Brietta the beautiful
by Ilikemutemath
Summary: Her father and mother died. Now she and her brother are having to care for their three other siblings, she works at a cruel woman's house to make money to feed her family. Challenges keep coming their way, she's hoping they can survive. But love may have other plans.
1. The Best Mistake of His Life

_Once Upon A Time,_

_In the great Kingdom of Rhenia, There lived a man._

_His name was William._

_The people of Rhenia all saw William in a different way. The women and girls saw him as a handsome face, the mothers saw his willingness to give his knowledge and help, the fathers saw the good example he was for their sons, the men and little boys saw his strength and bravery and they copied his every move. _

_He was a doctor and a friend to all of Rhenia, he did house calls, he helped anyone who needed it, he was an accomplished swordsman, and he has even fought in a few of the wars against the Eldemarians, Eldemari was the neighboring kingdom to the East who wanted the wealth of Rhenia._

_He was humble, and yet at the same time he walked with authority and gracefulness. _

_The women doted on him and I'm sure he could have had all of them if he wanted, yet he never showed any attraction for them, only respect and kindness._

_He's the kind of man that children love, and that loves children._

_He's the kind of man that every girl in the world dreams of at some point in her life._

_One day he was doing his rounds on his horse when he saw a girl with curly blond hair sitting under a tree. As he got closer he realized that she had tears streaming down her face, and her right leg was bent at an odd angle._

_He jumped down from his horse, running over to the girl he called to her, "Where does it hurt?" he went down to one knee next to her, and started examining her leg. _

_When she didn't say anything he looked up to her face. _

_That was the best mistake of his life._

_She was the most beautiful person he had ever seen; she had blue eyes, and a soft face. "You're the first person to stop and help me." She said in a clear and beautiful voice._

"_No one else saw you? You were in plain sight of the road." he asked her._

"_No plenty of people definitely saw me, but they also saw my clothes. I'm an Eldemarian, as you can plainly see." She said as she looked away from him. _

_He was shocked, not because she was one of them but because the people of Rhenia didn't stop to help this poor girl. They were always so nice to him. "I'm so sorry! What happened to your leg?" He was ashamed of his people. _

"_You're not going to leave now that you know who I am?" she asked, bewildered._

"_No, that is not my way of doing things. These people are not my people when they treat another human being the way they have treated you. Now what happened to that leg?" He asked again._

"_I broke it." She said, stating the obvious._

"_I know that much, but how did you break it?" _

_*sigh* "A drunken man was chasing me yesterday morning, my foot got stuck in a root and my body landed facing the opposite way of my foot, thus breaking my leg." She winced as she remembered it._

_His mouth fell open. "You sat here all night? It was freezing out here!"_

"_Yeah, I didn't really have a choice. But thank God you came along." She said happily._

_He liked her smile, it made him smile. He stooped down and picked her up, taking care to be gentle on her leg._

"_What are you doing?"_

"_How else are you going to get on my horse?" He said with a laugh._

_When they finally got situated in the saddle she said to him, "My name is Jessica… you can call me Jess."_

"_My name is William, you can call me Will. It's a pleasure to meet you, Jess." He said as he smiled back at her._

_He took her to his aunt's house, hoping that his aunt had room for a guest. She did and she was happy to have someone to take care of._

_The weeks passed and William visited his aunts at least once every week, on the excuse that he was helping Jessica get her leg better. Which was a lie, he was only visiting Jess because he had fallen in love with her when he had looked into her eyes that first time._

_Jessica was falling in love too and it was beautiful._

_More weeks passed and William then asked Jessica to marry him, and of course she said yes, they got married,_

_And They Lived Happily-_

"Wait! That's not all!" I cried.

"Brie, sweetheart you know the rest. In fact you are in the rest of the story." My mother said gently.

"But this is the best part! You can't just end it!" I said.

"Okay." Mother said with a sigh. "They had a beautiful little girl, and a handsome little boy. They all lived in a cute little cottage and the world was perfect."

"I'm going to grow up to be a doctor like father!" I said excitedly

"Yes, just like father." She said with a loving smile.

"I'm home! Jessica, Brietta, Wesley?" I heard my father's voice come from the front door.

"Daddy!" I squealed.

Later when we had eaten and were in the sitting room father was reading a book, mother was sewing a dress I had ripped, and I was practicing my crocheting.

When father looked up from his book.

"Brie, Mommy and I have a surprise for you!" He said as he looked to mother with a smile.

"I have another baby in my belly! You're going to be a big sister, again!" Mother said smiling prettily.

My eyes widened and I clapped my hands together. I threw my arms around first my mother's neck then my father's. Then I ran to find Wesley my two year old brother so I could tell him about mother.

"_She is so happy these days; I hope nothing ever ruins that." _My mother was thinking as I ran out.

fourteen years later…

"I don't know what to do." I whispered through my tears. _I'm sitting by my Fathers deathbed and I feel helpless. I shouldn't have let him work so hard, he would be fine right now if he had just gotten more rest._

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I lifted my head to look at Wesley.

"The kids want to say goodnight to father. You should wash your face before they come in, or they'll never get to sleep because of worry for him." He said gently.

"Thank you, Wess." I said as I went to the wash basin.

I turned from the mirror, "Go ahead and bring them in, I'm ready." I said as I steadied myself so that I wouldn't cry while my brothers and sister were in the room. _I have to be stronger than this, for them._

_In came Nathaniel, then Jacob, and finally Alyssa. I watched them each place a kiss on their father's cheek; it was a heart stabbing sight. _

_Nathaniel is fifteen he looks like mother, with the curly blond hair but he has fathers brown eyes. He knows we are loosing father and it is hurting him terribly, maybe even worse than the rest of us._

_Jacob is ten years old; he has brown straight hair and brown eyes, just like father. He seems to be hurting right now but I just think he doesn't know how to express it._

_Alyssa is five, she looks exactly like mother in every way, Mother died giving birth to her. The amazing thing is, mother got to hold her baby in her arms for ten minutes before she died. _

_I don't think Alyssa understands what's going on right now, and I'm glad that she does not because I wouldn't be able to stand it if she did. _

_They all gave me a hug and a kiss before they left for bed. But when it was Alyssa's turn as she was pulling away, she looked up into my eyes with her huge blue ones, and asked me a simple question. It may have been simple and innocent but it broke my heart in two. "Is daddy okay?"_

_What am I supposed to say to that? I looked up to Wess, hoping he knew but he didn't, he was staring down at our little sister, with tears in his eyes. I hadn't seen him cry through this whole thing he had been so strong, but those tears reminded me how real all of this was. I turned away from Wess. I was not going to cry, I had to answer this question. "Sweetheart, father is just… very, very tired right now."_

_Lyssa beamed at that. "I'm tired too!" She said as she bounced into Wesley's arms._

_Wesley carried Alyssa and Jacob and Nathaniel followed. _

_I sat down beside father's bed again. "This is so terrifying. Father, please get better, we need you here." _

_I said, still holding the tears back. I fell asleep there, and I didn't wake, even when Wess carried me to my bed._

_Five days later Father passed away. It was a sad time for my family, but I knew I had to be strong. I hadn't cried ever since that night Lyssa asked about father. I had decided that I would not cry, I was doing it because I was the new support of the family now. And supports aren't supposed to be weak._


	2. A New Day

**One year later…**

It has been a year since father died; we are just barely getting along as it is.

Wesley and I both work during the day now. Wesley's job is falling trees for Mr. Johansen, **(Pronounced Yohansin). **Or any other odd job he can find around town.

My job is as a maid for Lady Berggren. And her two daughters; Drizzela, and Bertha, are around the ages of nineteen and seventeen. I have never gotten along with them. Drizzela may be beautiful but she is also a self-centered person. In addition, Bertha, being the younger of the two, praises her every move. The only reason I still work at that house is that Lady Berggren pays me well.

Wes and I are usually dead on our feet when we arrive home at night. Therefore, we are not able to spend much time with our brothers and sister. A fact that I regret dearly.

Nathaniel gets into fights with other boys his age a lot. Wess and I are at our ends meet when trying to help him through this stage in his life.

We have not heard Jacob's laugh in over a year and a half now. The feelings showing in his soft brown eyes are the worst part. It's like a slow throbbing pain that has grown so intense that it has slowly eaten away all of the happiness. It's gotten to the point where it's hard to look into his eyes

Wesley has tried his hardest at being a father to all of us, but that is rather hard for him when he himself is still in need of a father.

Wesley and I have had to do a lot of premature growing in these past seven years. Wess once wanted to become a soldier and join the royal arms, and he had to give up that dream to become a provider of four other human beings. I still see the longing in his eyes when he picks up a sword, or when we hear soldiers walking through the streets of Rhenia.

I was studying with father to become a doctor, but that was put on indefinite hold when mother got sick.

I do not mind taking care of my family, but I pray that there will be a day when Wess can follow his dreams and become a warrior. For now though, we have to focus on raising our family to the best of our abilities.

***~~H~~***

I sat up, gasping for breath. _I just now fell off a cliff! And now I'm sitting... On the floor beside my bed. _I started laughing, for some reason it was extremely funny. Then the city bell rang four times, telling me I couldn't go back to bed.

I grudgingly got up and opened my wardrobe, It's contents were made up of one brown working dress, one plain blue dress, a grey skirt, and one white shirt.

I pulled out the brown dress. Then walked across the hall into the bath. I washed quickly, not having more than a few minutes in the bath.

As I slipped my dress on, I briefly wished I had a pretty dress, but that thought was dismissed as quickly as it had appeared. It would only make it harder on the rest of the family if I wished for nonsense things, like fancy clothing.

Going to Wess' door and knocked gently, hearing a soft moan I smiled and opened the door. Revealing Wesley slowly sitting up. _He had a very long day yesterday he deserves more sleep, but he has another long day of work. _

"_Good morning." He said in a voice deepened by sleep._

_I smiled, closing the door. Then I went down stairs to the kitchen to make breakfast. _

_Wess came down not long after I finished. We sat down at the table together, reaching across the table we grasped each others hands, and bowed our heads, then Wess spoke. "Dear God, we thank you for the food we are about to eat, and for the hands that prepared it." He squeezed my hand as he said this. "Father, please help today to be prosperous, and please give us the strength to carry this family, Amen."_

_We ate in a companionable silence, each of us pondering our list of chores for the day._

_Soon Wesley left for work and I woke Nate and Jacob, since they had school that day. As soon as they were finished with breakfast they quickly left for school._

_I crept up to see if Lyssy was still asleep, upon finding her in dreamland, I smiled down at her. Then left, closing the door softly behind me._

_I went downstairs to find my best friend Isabella waiting at the table. She was going to watch Lyssy for the day. I hugged her and thanked her as I left for my own work._

_Thus a new day began in my household._


	3. Sleep Deprivation

***happy dance***

**Next chapter is up!**

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><p>I ran as fast as I could, praying she did not notice that I was late for work. I launched over the fence, waving to the grounds-keeper Mr. Sliven as I ran. I bounded around to the back of the house where I slipped into the kitchen unnoticed.<p>

I prepared a quick breakfast for the sleeping women upstairs, and then I set everything on three separate trays. Placing one on top of my head then I picked the other one up, balancing it between my shoulder and my right hand then I stooped down and shimmied the other off the counter and onto my left shoulder and hand.

I hurried up the steps, hoping to get to her room before she woke, but when I got to the top step, I almost tripped on the fat black cat, Duke lying in the way. He purred and pawed my ankles with the pads of its feet wanting his milk. I crouched down and slid the bowl of milk from the tray on the right onto the floor. He started lapping it up, and had it all gone in a matter of seconds.

I stepped around him, and slowed my pace to a quick walk. Then I tapped lightly on the door leading to Lady Berggren's sleeping quarters. "Enter." Came the angry reply. "_Oh, no." _I thought before I opened the door.

"Your late, girl." She said with venom in her voice.

"Yes, I am sorry." I tried to sound regretful, but in truth, I was not.

I walked over to the bedside table and slipped the tray on the left gently onto it. Then I half listened, while she listed off all the multitudes chores I had to do today. It seemed impossible for one girl to finish all those chores in one day. However, I have never had trouble accomplishing it. In fact, it has been rather easy.

Once she finished I continued on to the next door… Drizzela's room. I knocked loudly on this one, trying to wake her up. "Go away." She yelled, and then I heard the snoring start back up. I opened the door, set the tray in my right hand on a table beside the door, then went to the curtains and jerked them open. Successfully blinding the snoring grouch.

I left the room before she could start throwing things at me, and came to the final door in the hall. This one I walked in without knocking. I set the tray from my head on the short table in the middle of the room, then walked over to the window and its already open curtains and looked out over the beautiful garden.

I unlatched the lock over the window and pressed a hand against it, letting in the cool breeze. "Oh, it is such a gorgeous day!" I looked over my shoulder at Bertha as she said this.

"Yes, it is very beautiful." I said, longing to be outside.

We both stood beside the window in silence, enjoying the amazing sun. Until I felt her eyes on me, and I knew she was about to ask a question. _Three… Two… One. _"Brie, are you okay?" I looked at her, surprised, I knew she was going to ask a question, but I hadn't seen this coming.

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

She studied me with a doubtful and worried look, and then said, "No reason." Then she looked away and changed the subject. "Before you leave I need you to iron the dress on my bed." I knew then that the side of her that liked me had gone into hiding.

Later that day, Bertha came looking for me, and found me making their lunch in the kitchen. She looked over my shoulder to see what I was making, then wandered over to the fruit bowl and grabbed an apple.

She perched herself beside my work space up on the counter, and started swinging her legs back and forth, in the same manner as I had seen Lyssy do.

She reached into a hidden pocket on her dress, and pulled out an envelope, it was the palaces very own stationary. Crimson envelopes with the addresses written in silver across the front. A black wax seal held the flaps closed, and imprinted in silver into the wax was a dragon standing on its hind legs breathing fire. The dragon was the symbol of Rhenia.

The king himself, I knew, sealed this envelope. He wore the stamp on a chain around his neck, and the designs in the fire were one of a kind, impossible to impersonate.

My eyes widened as she turned it slowly so I would know what I was looking at. "What does it say?" I asked eagerly.

She smiled, "I have not opened it yet, because I wanted you to be with me." She said with excitedly. I smiled gratefully, "Well, open it!" I said with a small laugh.

She carefully broke the seal, and then pulled the thick slip of paper out of the envelope. There was a gasp, I am not sure who it was me or her but the reason for it was the beauty. It had a single red rose engraved into the black paper. Then we unfolded it and found more silver writing,

_Ladies and Gentlemen,_

_Her Highness, Queen Quymby Marissa, and His Highness King George the Third,_

_Would like to cordially invite every lady and gentleman of Rhenia to make an appearance at Prince Damian's third and final coming of age ball. _

I stopped reading for a moment, and laughed at the words "third and final". Prince Damian had always been… defiant of the stereotypical royalty roles. Since he was six, he tried to be a 'normal' person; he has learned to fight with a sword and has learned archery, both of which are forbidden to royalty in our kingdom. He has run away multiple times from the palace, and was often found either wandering through the streets of Rhenia talking to the commons people, or hunting with his bow in the forest adjacent to the kingdom.

But the most prominent of the misbehaving was when he missed his own coming-of-age balls, the ones that his father and mother had planned for weeks, all of the kingdom was invited but the only one that didn't show up, was the prince himself. This happened two times already, and now they are trying it again.

I looked back down at the letter,

_It will be held in the south ballroom of the castle, the festivities will begin on the fifth chime of the bell on Saturday April Seventh the day that is known as "the day of the moon". There will be a great feast in honor of the young Prince and the festivities will last through the night. If the Prince does not select one of the eligible maidens gathered for this event to be his bride, the King will choose one for him. Princes and Princesses from neighboring kingdoms have been invited to this celebration, so all attire should be decent and formal. Ladies will need an escort to accompany them. _

_We wish dearly that you might be able to attend ~King George the Third_

I looked up at the dazed Bertha as she gave a contented sigh. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if he chose me?" she said wishfully.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

She looked at me with a shocked face, then grabbed the paper out of my hand and pointed urgently as she said, "Right here hun, It clearly says; "_If the Prince does not select one of the eligible maidens gathered for this event to be his bride, the King will choose one for him." _Is it not a dream come true? And only a week away!" She gave another sigh as she stared into the distance.

I rolled my eyes; I did not have time for such silly things. I turned back to stir the soup, and to take the bread out. Once she finally came down from her day dreamy state she looked to me expectantly. "Who are you taking to be your escort, and what are you going to wear?" I looked at her surprised, I had not even thought of going.

"I'm not going." I answered simply.

"Not going? But every one is going! Why in the world wouldn't you want to go?" She asked with huge eyes.

"I have other things to do, and I do not care to go to those kinds of things anyways." I told her, hoping she would not press the subject.

She sat silently studying my face, then in a quiet tone, she said, "You have changed, ever since your father died you have been so sullen and- and… old." She slowly got down from the counter, picked the letter up, and walked quietly out of the room.

When I was sure she was gone, I stopped cutting the vegetables in front of me, and slumped down into a nearby chair. I was suddenly very tired, and I felt like I could cry.

The rest of the day I avoided anyone I thought might ask me about the ball. And I worked double the speed so that I could get home as soon as possible. But that plan failed when I heard my name being screeched through the house, it was Drizzela, wanting me to make her a brand new dress.

"What is wrong with your pink one?" I asked, exasperated.

She made a noise that was a mix between a pig and a donkey. _"Is that a dig or a ponkey?" _I thought briefly.

"I already wore that one. Really, you would think even lowly servants would know that." She said in a whiney voice.

She pointed to an extremely complicated pattern in the book she was holding. I looked at it, then looked at her, sure she must be joking, "This dress would take weeks to finish if not a month." I told her.

She glared at me, and then she turned her head towards the door, opened her mouth wide and screamed, "Mooootheeeer!" Lady Berggren came running, and Drizzela quickly said in a pouty voice, "Mother, she is refusing to make my dress!"

I opened my mouth to protest but it was cut off. "Is this true?" She asked furiously.

"Of course not! I mean, it would take weeks to make that kind of dress and-" I was again cut off by Lady Berggren.

"I have no doubt in your sewing skills." She turned to Drizzela and said, "You will have your dress by the end of the week." Then she turned back to me and said. "You had better get started if you want to meet your deadline." Then she stalked out of the room with an air of superiority.

Drizzela tapped the face of the book twice and said in an officious tone, "Better get started." Then she flitted out of the room after her mother.

I picked up the book and examined the dress closely; it had the most ridiculous amount of fabric, you could not possibly fit it all onto one person. It may have looked fashionable to Drizzela, but it looked more like a torture device to me. I smiled wickedly; I would not mind torturing Drizzela.

I grabbed the book and hurried out of the room, I really would have to work hard to finish it in time, but I was sure it would be worth it.

I left the house and hurried to the fabric store. I picked out the fabrics I knew Drizzela would like, and hurried home, to fix supper and get to work on the dress.

When I arrived, I realized that the mare was in the barn, meaning that Wess was already home. I was greeted by the smell of pancakes. I smiled; the only thing Wess knew how to cook was pancakes.

I walked into the kitchen and was surprised to see that Wess was sitting in a chair, arms crossed on top of the table, head on his arms… asleep. I looked over to the stove and saw that Nathaniel had picked up where Wess left off.

"He fell asleep after starting some pancakes…" Explained Nate with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Thank-you Nathan." I said gratefully

After making sure Nate had it all under control, I left to change out of my dress into my shirt and pants. I worked tediously all through the night, only stopping to make breakfast for the others and to send a missive to Lady Berggren saying:

_I will be working on Drizzela's dress all day, _

_I will not be coming in to clean today. _

_Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are in the ice box._

_Please excuse my absence._

_~Brietta_

Around noon Isabella came in, she saw how much of the dress I had finished and gasped. "You must have been up all night! Wesley told me you were making a dress for 'Grizzly' but he said you only started yesterday." I looked up from the delicate stitches, and to tell you the truth, even I was shocked at the progress.

She laughed at the look on my face, "Don't know your own strength, huh?"

"I thought it would take several days to get to this point."

"Well you are not done yet, you still have a long way to go." She replied to me.

"Thanks for the encouragement." I said dryly.

She laughed and left with the promise of returning with a sandwich and a little girl.

A little while later, when my fingers were cramping and my back was aching Isabella decided to keep her promise. She walked in, led by Lyssy who was carrying the sandwich. I only ate half of it though, and I only ate that much because I was under four watchful eyes.

It went on like this for three days, and then, on Thursday night, I sewed the very last ruffle into place. I looked around, feeling like I had just woken up from a dream. Which was ironic because I had only taken a few short naps in the span of three days.

I looked to my bed, thinking about how much I missed it, then I ran and jumped onto it, landing on my back. I apologized to my bed for ignoring it as I floated on relaxation. I realized that I should probably get up and change my clothes, but I could not bring myself to move any muscles, and when I was able to lift an arm, it fell back onto the bed like a cinder block. I could feel every time my heart throbbed, sending a wave of blood through me, or at least that is what it felt like.

My eyes hurt from having them open for so long, I closed them tightly, I slowly filling my lungs with air, but by the time I let out the breath, I was in deep sleep.

***~~H~~***

The next morning I awoke at five o'clock, "Oh no! I'm going to be late!" I thought, a little panicky. I dressed swiftly and stumbled half blinded by sleep, down the stairs. And was shocked to find every one already sitting around the table, eating pancakes.

They looked just as shocked as I felt. I walked over to the empty chair and sat down, all eyes were on me. I looked up and asked defensively, "What's wrong?"

They all just stared at me, then finally Wess cleared his voice and spoke up. "You are not going to finish the dress?" He calmly took a sip of his coffee to wash the sticky pancake down.

"I finished last night." He started choking on his coffee when I said this, and when he was finally under control he asked in a surprised tone, "You finished it last night? Why didn't you sleep longer then?"

"I slept an hour longer." I said with a frown.

He sighed an rubbed his forehead. "Brie, you need some rest."

"I had four whole hours of sleep last night" I said, wondering why he was acting like this.

He chuckled, "You are really something, you know that? Fine, how about this, you go back to bed for another hour, then when you feel rested you can go back to work." He negotiated.

I glared at him, then I stood and stalked out the front door. Ignoring their voices asking me to stop. I got half way to work before I realized it was raining, and it was cold rain.

I was a shivering mess when I finally got to the mansion. I walked through the front door and went straight to Bertha's room.

There was already a tray of breakfast on the table in the middle of the room, I gawked at it, for some reason it made me feel unneeded. I slid down to the ground, back against the wall, and closed my eyes. I only meant to close them for a second, but when I opened them again I was looking up at the ceiling, and instead of wall and floor behind me I felt a soft blanket.

I heard a voice to my left, and tried to move my head to see who it was, but I was too exhausted. Someone replied to the first voice. "I found her sitting there, soaked to the bone and freezing." I think that one was Bertha's voice, but I'm still not sure who's voice spoke first, it wasn't anyone I knew that's for sure. Then, yet another voice was added to the picture.

"She left the house before I could stop her. Thank God she came here and not somewhere where we couldn't find her." That was Wess' voice, I knew that much.

"Yes, you were very fortunate. She was probably ready to pass out before she even left her house. Then add the ice cold rain to that…" I finally realized who it was, it was the doctor from the north side of Rhenia. I had talked to him on a few occasions, but he didn't know I wanted to become a doctor. So I wasn't really an interesting person to him.

I was finally able to move my head enough to see that they were all standing with their backs to me, looking out the window at the rain. I tried to say something, but it came out in a dry croak, then I started laughing, because I sounded so funny when I was just trying to say hi. The laughing sounded even worse, it was like someone was torturing a frog, but I couldn't stop, I sounded extremely funny.

I now had the attention of the other three people in the room. Bertha and the doctor's faces were concerned, but Wess' face told me that he knew I was laughing, and not dieing a slow painful frog death. He had a silly grin on his face, making me laugh harder.

"What's wrong?" I heard Bertha's anxiety filled voice.

Then I heard Wess reply with a hint of laughter in his voice. "She's laughing at herself."

Bertha's face turned relieved, then she looked almost happy.

I looked at the faces around me and had the strange feeling that a new beginning was rapidly approaching.

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><p><strong>AN**

**Tada!**

**Okay, before I forget, I'm totally wacked out about the date of the ball... **

**You will see why this Saturday :D (Hint, hint.)**

** Thank you everybody for reading, I hope you review!**


	4. The ball

**A/N**

**Okay my people!**

**This is going to be the best chapter ever! (I wish):**

**Five cool facts that make this chap awesome:**

**Today is the day before Easter, **

**Today's date is also the date on the kings invite to the ball (check the previous chap and see if you don't believe me.) **

**This is the longest chapter I have ever written,**

**For the first time in all of my stories I have a crowd's POV,**

**And finally, ****Today is my birthday!**

**So as a present to you for my b-day, I am updating! :) **

**Enjoy!**

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><p>"Wesley, do you think you could get her down to my buggy?" The doctor asked.<p>

Wess nodded curtly, and then he scooped me up into his arms, holding me like a fragile child. He stood still for a moment as he waited for the door to open. He made it look as though I was as light as a feather. Although, that may be the case, considering how much I had been eating in those last few days.

I watched Wess' face, wondering what he thought of all of this, but it was unreadable, he was concentrating on something. I am sure of that because the only times I do not know what he was thinking was when he was either angry or when he is concentrating. He had that calculating expression, the same one I remembered seeing on my father's face when he was hunting.

Wess walked down the hall, heading for the stairs. The doctor stopped to talk with Bertha, and that is when Wess' expression changed, he looked down at me worriedly. "I'm sorry, I let this happen." He whispered.

"What do you mean?" I asked, appalled that he would blame himself for my mistake.

"I should have taken better care of you. You were under pressure to finish that blasted dress; I should have been paying more attention to how you were treating yourself."

As we reached the top stair, a screech came from Drizzela's room. I rolled my eyes, that scream had begun to show up in my nightmares because of her.

Her door flew open and she looked around, when her eyes landed on us, I automatically flinched back.

"_What is it this time?" _I thought wearily.

She started towards me. "_If she starts ordering me around right now…" _My thoughts trailed off when I realized her face was not distorted in the usual frown.

She stopped in front of Wess, she looked down at her feet, and said quietly, "Thank you, Brietta, for the beautiful dress." My eyes widened, that was the nicest thing she had ever said to me.

"You're welcome. Does it fit?" I hoped that it fit, so I would not have to hem it or anything.

She smiled shyly, "I don't know, could you help me get it on?" I was shocked; she was a completely different person.

I looked to Wess, for his permission. He shrugged and tilted his head towards the doctor. I raised my brows at the doctor; he smiled and said, "If you hurry, we need to get you home so you can rest for the ball tomorrow." I frowned but brushed it off for later.

Wess carried me into her room and set me on a rocking chair. As he was straightening, I whispered to him, "Thank you for bringing the dress."

He smirked, and said, "Nate told me to." I laughed as he left.

Bertha came in and shut the door, saying that she got the men settled in the sitting room.

After fifteen minutes of tugging and pulling, Bertha and I stepped back to admire the dress on Drizzela. It really was beautiful,

"Brie you're so talented! It looks much better than the picture. In fact it looks nothing like the pattern." Bertha said as she fingered the dress.

I could not quite place what kind of mood Drizzela was in, the word for it was on the tip of my tongue, not wanting to reveal itself to me.

"It's a little heavier than I thought it was going to be." Drizzela said as she slipped some high heels on.

I almost laughed when I saw that the heels she had were almost a foot high. "_These fashion trends are ridiculous!" _I thought with a smile.

"What are you wearing Brietta?" Drizzela of all people, asked me.

I sighed, _"Here we go again." _"I'm not going." I said exasperated.

"Nonsense, if the reason is that you don't have a dress to wear you could always borrow any of my dresses." I gawked at her, and then felt her head to see if she had a fever. She laughed as she brushed my hand away, "I'm just trying to be nice, and after all you worked really hard on my dress."

For the first time I considered the possibility of going. "If it's okay with you… Can I borrow the cream one with golden beads?" I suddenly blurted out. "_I guess I'm going then?" _I thought.

"That old thing? You can keep that one; I was going to throw it away anyways." She said.

"Why don't you try it on now?" Bertha said excitedly. It was not a question; she was already heading for the trunk on the far side of the room.

In a couple minutes, I was almost as pretty as Drizzela. The dress was knee length, _"Part of those new crazy trends." _It was a creamy color, and it had tiny golden beads sewn into delicate patterns across the bosom. In addition, the bottom of the dress was flared because of some sort of layered mesh skirt they had stuck on under the dress.

It fit perfectly. Before I knew it, I was being helped down the hall and into the sitting room, to show off our prettiness.

Wess' eyes widened and he stood slowly as he caught sight of us, the doctor started coughing on the cup of tea he had in his hand and Wess reached over with a smile to smack him on the back.

A slow smile spread across the doc's face as he said, "Well, well who are these three lovely ladies?"

I blushed; I had never been called lovely before.

We soon changed into our regular clothes and I was again picked up, and then carried out the door and down the front steps to the awaiting buggy. Bertha followed us out with my new dress, and thanked me before we headed home.

When we arrived, I was surprised to see Nathan and Jacob were still at home. When I asked about it they simply said, "All the schools and businesses are shut down to get ready for the ball." I had not thought of that.

"Well then, are you two going to go to a friend's house then?" I did not want them to go, in fact I really wanted to hold them close for as long as possible. However, they were still children; I was not going to make them grow up any faster than they had to.

"Actually, we were going to take care of you today." Was Jacob's quiet reply. I felt the pinpricks on the backs of my eyes, warning me that I was getting emotional.

I swallowed down tears, as he gave me a loving hug.

We all spent the rest of the day playing games, and being a family. _"This day is by far, the best of my life"_

I thought happily, as I got beat again, by Wess in a game of cards.

When we finally finished with the game playing, and we were all sitting around thinking about various things, Lyssy climbed on to my lap and yawned. Her cute little blue eyes were drooping, her head slowly lowered onto my shoulder and her arms wrapped around my neck.

I realized that I had not been a very good mother for her, I had been so wrapped up in all my other worries, and I had forgotten what my role in her life was supposed to be. I cradled her head in my hand, and gently started singing a lullaby that I remembered hearing mother and father singing together.

Jacob slowly inched my way when he heard the song I was singing, and I saw some slight movement in Nathan's head as he turned his ear to where he could hear me better. Wess bluntly walked over and sat down Indian style in front of me, I think he remembered that song too. His deeper voice soon joined in to my higher clearer one and we sounded almost exactly like I remembered father and mother sounding together.

There were two things I had not done since father died, the first one was I had not cried, the other was I had not sang. Therefore, you could understand the interest in all my brother's eyes as I hit every note perfectly.

I had inherited my mother's beautiful singing voice, her sweet face features, and her perfectly curled blond hair. However, from my father's side I inherited his brown/gold eyes. I did not think I was very pretty I had many flaws.

We finally neared the end of the soft melody, I looked away from Wess to Nathaniel I cut off the note I was on as I saw the tears in his eyes. I had not seen him cry in a long time.

I glanced at Wesley who had followed my eyes, and was now slowly standing with a sympathetic look on his face. I stood with the now sleeping Lyssy and moved to sit beside Nate.

I gently wiped his tears away,

"What's wrong?" Wess said.

He took a shaky breath, then said, "That was the last song mom sang, she was holding Lyssy, and I was watching her. She didn't know I was there, she had the most beautiful voice" Wess wrapped him in a hug. I watched, my heart slowly breaking for the boy. Then I realized that he had probably seen mother's life slip out of her.

Wess seemed to realize this too, and he stood and walked Nathan out of the room to talk to him. I looked to Jacob; he was watching the doorway with pain etched into his face. Jacob had always been sensitive to other's feelings.

"Could you come with me and open Alyssa's door so I can lay her down?" I asked him, hoping it would be distracting. It was, he stood and quickly left ahead of me. After laying her down, and checking on Wess and Nate. I went to my own room, changing into my comfortable clothes I settled into my bed with a tired sigh. I was fast asleep before I knew it.

I woke with a start; someone was banging on my door. My mind went through all the reasons someone would be waking me, I found none that made sense. The doctor had told me to sleep in, and I had given him my word that I would stay in bed for as long as possible.

"Brie, I'm here to make you pretty!" I heard Bertha's voice call through the door.

"Why would you do that?" I asked grumpily.

She gave what sounded like a scoff and said, "For the ball of course!" I looked out the window and realized it was almost noon. I flipped the covers off and opened the door to let the bubbling Bertha in; she was followed by Isabella and Lyssy, who both wanted to help.

They sat me down in a chair in the middle of the room, and then started walking around me, deciding where to start. I noticed Bertha and Isabelle were both already dressed and prettied up.

They finally started on my hair, their fingers moved diligently over my head, and I watched as a complex looking up-do slowly appeared. There were twists, pins, and curls piled up on my head, resulting in a very flattering hairstyle.

They started on my makeup next, I had never worn makeup a day in my life, so when they were finished the effect was extreme, it did not completely transform my face, but it did make the prettiness more prominent. There was a subtle gold powder on my face, bringing out the gold flecks in my brown eyes.

It was around four when they slipped the dress over my head, then pulled the mesh skirt on under it. I was put in the shortest pair of heels Bertha could find, which were quite high in my standards. They were clear except for the gold lining around them. Finally, I attached the gold locket mother gave me around my neck.

"You look like a doll." Lyssy stated.

I smiled, "It will be easier to blend in now that I look nice." I said as my nerves calmed a bit.

Isabella laughed, "No, it will be harder for you to blend in now." She said happily.

"What do you mean?" I asked. I was completely confused.

"What she means is, you are so beautiful, and you will stand out tonight." Bertha explained.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "At least Drizzela's dress is much prettier than mine, she will take the spotlight."

They both just laughed and Isabella quietly said, "I highly doubt that."

Bertha soon left to go help Drizzela finish getting ready.

Isabella and I were sitting at the table in the dining room, when Wess came down in his white shirt and black vest, "How do you tie this thing?" he said as he held up the yellow/gold bowtie that matched my dress.

Isabella stood and took the tie from his hand, I watched as she reached her arms around his neck, pulling the tie around to the front. Their eyes locked, I smirked when neither of them could break the stare.

It seemed they were lost forever in each other's eyes, until I decided to cough and break the spell. They glanced around, and both of them turned a bit red as Isabella quickly finished tying a perfect bow, and then distanced herself from Wess.

Isabella cleared her throat and said, "Well, I have to go see if my escort is ready. See you two later!" then she bounced, (a little too happily) out the door.

I turned an accusing smile on Wess, he was watching the door she had just closed as if he had no idea what just happened. He looked at me, his eyes asking me what happened. I just shrugged, and said, "That was strange."

He nodded his head and said, "Yeah, she seems all grown up suddenly." She was only a year younger than he was, but he had always seen her as a little sister. I sighed, Wess was not supposed to fall in love; if he fell in love he would leave me alone to raise the kids. That thought scared me, but I didn't want to take anything away from him, so I stayed silent.

His mood changed from confused about Isabella, to excitement about the ball in an instant. "You look beautiful Brie." He complimented me.

"Thank you, you look nice too." I said.

Then he looked at the clock and said, "We best get going, we don't want to be late."

"Nate, we are leaving now." I called up the stairs.

"Yeah, okay see you later." He replied.

We arrived at the castle, and were ushered down a hall, into a room; we gave our names to an announcer, and then were shown through large doors as our name was called out. Then we were announced, along with a few others that had arrived at the same time.

**The crowd's POV**

Every one in the ballroom stopped to see who had come, and then a few carried on with their business, but most eyes lingered on the attractive couple that had just arrived, arm in arm.

The girl's hair was a beautiful blond color, and her eyes were large and brown. She wore a dazzling cream and gold dress, that perfectly suited her.

The crowd watched eagerly as they made their way around the outside of the ballroom, to a small group of women they seemed to know. She smiled at something one of the girls said, and it seemed to make other people smile as they watched her.

The man that stood beside her was just as attractive, there was a similarity between the two that led people to believe they were related. However, the way she looked jealously at him as he talked to another girl, and the way they stayed glued to each other's sides, confused the onlookers.

Some of the princesses were tittering as they watched the mysterious girl. She was graceful and perfect in every way. In addition, even some of the Princes were watching her in interest, but were hesitant to approach her because of the man on her arm.

**Brietta's POV**

I was not enjoying myself, Wess and Isabella were flirting with each other and having the time of their lives, but I was left with a sinking feeling every time Wess laughed at something she said.

I felt like I could cry, so soon I tugged on Wess' sleeve and said, "Wess, I think I'm going to go get a drink, I may go out into the gardens later if you need me." He nodded, and then turned back to Isabella.

**The crowd's POV **

As soon as she stepped away from him, you could visibly see the crowd move towards her, ready to ask for a dance, or even to just see if they could make her smile, because they thought her smile was the most beautiful one ever.

**Brietta's POV**

When I finally reached the table with the drinks I had been asked to dance six times, all of which I had politely turned down, things were suddenly getting weird. Many people had started talking to me, asking me where I came from and who my family is. I got out of all of those talks, with a few well-placed words and an excuse.

I smiled at the boy behind the table that was dishing out punch for people, he grinned and asked, "What would you like madam?" He had a strange accent that made my smile wider.

"What is that?" I asked as I pointed to a bowel of pink stuff.

He laughed, and then said in hushed tones, "That… is pink lemonade." A laugh bubbled out of me, and as soon as it did, he looked satisfied. :He was hoping to see her smile, but he had gotten much more.

I walked around the ballroom, and soon got angry with myself for leaving Wess' side. I had lost count of how many people had asked me to dance, but I was not going to give in to any of the requests, because I knew if I did, there would be no stopping the string of people wanting to dance with me.

I remembered that I had told Wess I would be in the gardens, and I realized that that would be my escape. I ducked behind a pillar, and hoped I was not seen by anyone.

I then hurried out the closest door to me, and slipped out into the night. I thought I had escaped unnoticed but I soon heard the footsteps of at least three men. "I know I saw her coming out here not two seconds ago." They had not seen me yet, so I crouched down in a clutch of bushes, and waited for them to pass.

I soon stood, but I crouched down again as I saw another shape coming my way, but he seemed to be running… not chasing.

Once he passed, I went in a different direction than them. And found myself in a beautiful little hidden garden, that I had accidentally stumbled upon. I decided it would be quite impossible for them to find me, and I settled down on a white bench.

I was watching the stars when a hand covered my mouth from behind, I was about to scream when I heard a large group of girls, "I think he went this way!" "Are you sure? " "I thought I saw him going that way!"

Then another voice joined them, it was a male voice, and I recognized it to be the man that had said he saw me leaving earlier. "Well hello ladies, what are all of you doing out here?"

"We were looking for Prince Damian, have you seen him?" Said one of the girls.

"No, but we were out here looking for someone ourselves, have any of you happened to see a pretty little blond girl, about this tall?"

I heard some say, "No." and another say, "I thought she was inside." And then the leader girl that had spoken up before said, "Why don't you go ask her beau? I know he is still inside." there were some snickers, and I wondered if they were talking about Wess.

They finally left, and I remembered that there was a hand that still covered my mouth, I had forgotten about it while the people talked.

The person removed their hand and moved around to sit beside me on the bench. I found myself staring into brown eyes that were so dark they were almost black. Then I saw the clothes he was wearing and realized that I was in the presence of none other than the crown prince Damian himself.

I quickly recovered from the initial shock and pulled myself together enough to make a sad attempt at Rhenia's symbol of respect with my hands.

He chuckled quietly, and then whispered, "So you're the one causing all this fuss?"

I smiled and said, "I was led to believe that you were the one causing it." We laughed quietly, and I decided that I rather liked the prince.

He looked at my hair, then said, "Your hair is different, where are you from?" he said this because every one in Rhenia has either straight black hair or straight brown hair.

"I'm from here, but my mother was an Eldemarian." They have blond curly hair and blue eyes.

His face seemed to harden for a second and I stood slowly, "I can leave…" I turned to go the way I came, but was stopped by a grip on my arm,

"Wait, please stay, I just have some grudges against one Eldemarian in particular." He said with an encouraging smile.

I sat back down, hesitantly. But we were soon talking like we had known each other for a long time. We talked for a rather long time; two, maybe three hours.

"What is your name?" he asked, and I was about to answer, when I was suddenly conscious of another being near us.

I put my finger to my mouth, signaling him to hush and listen. He nodded once he heard what I was hearing.

We stood silently, and he positioned me to where I was behind him, he drew his sword, and stalked stealthily towards the noise, with me right on his heals.

He raised a hand, signaling me to stop, and then he quickly pulled back the bushes separating us from whatever it was. His shoulders relaxed, and I peeked around his arm to see a little girl about Lyssy's age, staring with huge eyes at us.

A laugh escaped my lips, then the prince said," Sarah, what are you doing out here?"

This was his little sister, Princess Sarah. She smiled, and then said, "I was looking for you."

He chuckled, "Well, you found me. You are one of the only princesses that I don't mind following me around." He said as he picked her up. I smiled, _"He's so caring and gentle with her." _

He turned to me, and then said, "I need to get her inside, it was very nice to meet you."

I smiled, "The pleasure was mine, your highness."

He walked me back to the ballroom, and then departed with a smile. I found Wess was still talking to Isabella, but I felt better about it.

Soon I began to hear praise for Drizzela's dress, somehow it had gotten out that I had made it. And it had also gotten out how long it took me to make it. People started asking me if I was a professional stylist.

I soon got tired of socializing, so I told Wess that I wanted to go home, and he agreed that I should get some rest.

As we were leaving we kept getting stopped by random strangers saying goodnight.

When we were finally in the safety of our home I looked at Wess and said, "That… Was… So... Weird. I'm never doing that again." I stated.

He laughed at me, "It's hard being the belle of the ball isn't it?" I gave him a look.

"I was not the belle of the ball. They just… did not see the real me." I finished lamely.

"You have no idea what you are talking about." he said as he pulled his vest off.

I rolled my eyes and hurried up stairs, I washed all the makeup off in the basin near my bed, and felt a bit better.

Then I remembered the garden, and I felt my face flush a bit. "_He was very handsome, and kind, and… fun."_

I fell asleep with a smile on my lips.

**Prince Damian's POV~**

I took Sarah up stairs, and read her a quick bedtime story. Then I hurried back to the ball, hoping to have some more time with that girl, I also hoped to find out her name. _"Because if things go the way father wants them to…" _

My thoughts quickly dropped off, as I searched the faces of the crowd. I realized I could probably see her instantly from high up because of her hair. So I climbed the steps to the balcony, I looked out over the ballroom, and my heart sank.

She was nowhere to be seen. I decided to ask the announcer if he remembered her, because I needed her name if I was going to tell my father about her.

Steven, the announcer, said that he did remember her first one, but the last name had slipped his mind.

That night when I was trying to get to sleep, I whispered her name, "Brietta." It felt right on my tongue. I fell into a deep sleep full of her beautiful moonlit face.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

**That is all!**

**Please review.**

**Until next time,**

**Ilikemutemath**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Prince Damian's POV**_

I had never been more impatient than I was at that moment. My father was in an important meeting with some nobles, and I was left pacing outside of the consultation room. Finally, the door flew open; I looked up at my father with a smile as he dismissed the two noblemen.

"Good morning, father. May I speak with you?" I asked

"Of course, come in and shut the door." He replied. "How did the ball go? Your mother and I retired early last night, so we missed most of it."

"It went as well as could be expected." I said with a teasing hint of mock arrogance.

He chuckled, "What is it that you want to talk to me about?"

I could not stop the grin that spread across my face, "You see, last night I met a girl. She was intelligent, beautiful, funny, humble… She was… perfect." I tried not to sound like a lovesick puppy, but I am sure I failed.

Father gawked at me in disbelief, "Who is she?" His tone was urgent; as if he was afraid I would change my mind.

"All I know is that her name is Brietta, and her mother was an Eldemarian. We talked for hours, but I do not know anything else about her." I said regretfully.

"What is it that you talked about then?" He asked.

I paused, "I am not really sure." I could not remember one specific thing we had talked about.

Father sighed, "It is almost impossible to find someone in this kingdom with that small of a description."

"But father, we have to find her! I refuse to be forced into an arranged marriage with someone I hate." I paused to let my words sink in, "I would rather marry for love. Like you did with mother." I said desperately.

"This arranged marriage you speak of could possibly save our kingdom." He reprimanded, "Would this 'Brietta' be able to stop an ongoing war between two enemy kingdoms? Could she mend the hate between two feuding kings?" He rubbed his temples with a tired sigh, "All I am trying to say is that you need to consider that if another war started between Eldemari and Rhenia hundreds of thousands of lives; both from our side and theirs, could be ruined."

"I am sorry father." I had not thought about it that way.

He nodded, "Now, what does this girl look like? I need a more detailed description if I am going to search for her."

I went on to describe the beauty of the mysterious girl.

When I finished I went to my room to get my cloak and bow then to the stables to get Thunder, my horse. I rode around the outskirts of town, until I got to my entrance to the forest. The woods had been my favorite place since I was six.

I rode down the trail that I had worn down over the years. Then I swerved off the main path and into the thick brush.

I walked a few yards, searching for my favorite spot, then I finally pushed one last branch out of the way, and I paused to take in the beauty; it was a small gap in the tree pattern, just big enough for a horse and three men, but small enough to be extremely hard to find. The trees overhead tangled and knotted together to form a green canopy of leaves. I dismounted, and sat down in the waving grass.

I sat for a few minutes, then suddenly my hunting senses told me something was off, I listened, when I did not hear anything I swung my bow off my back, it was usually buzzing with animal life around here. I went back to the trail; even the trees seemed to be holding their breath.

I glanced down at the dirt and mud path, and froze in my steps. There was a large fresh paw print not two feet away, leading towards the kingdom. I looked around me, and realized that there was a whole pack of prints that had not been there when I had passed by only minutes ago.

"They walked right by me." I whispered in shock.

I mounted Thunder, my bow still loaded and ready to shoot anything that moved.

The wolves were a threat to the livestock, and I knew that if they got bold they would start attacking people.

I galloped back to the castle, not seeing any more signs of the pack.

I met my father on the way to breakfast, and told him of my findings, He confirmed my thoughts about the animals. "Those men I was meeting with this morning, their districts have been raided by wolves. It seems they lost a good amount of cattle and a few pet dogs that tried to defend their territory are dead as well."

We both agreed that he should send out a hunting party before the wolves got any closer to the core of the kingdom.

_***~~H~~***_

_**Brietta's POV**_

We were preparing for another day when there was a knock on the front door; I opened it to find a uniformed soldier.

He looked down at a scroll, "Is there a 'Wesley Anderson' here?" He asked in a formal tone.

I heard Wess coming down the stairs behind me, "That is me, what can I do for you sir?" He asked.

"The king has issued a hunting party for some overly audacious wolves, you are on the list. You will be accompanied by these men." He handed Wess the scroll in his hand. "Do you have any objections?" He asked when he saw Wesley's frown.

"No, it is just that I do not know why I was chosen."

The soldier smirked, "Congratulations, you are one of best archers in the kingdom. The king himself drew up this list."

Wesley's expression was one of extreme surprise.

He glanced at me and almost cracked up but smoothly covered his laugh with a cough. He knew that I was better than him in archery, and I would be on that list too… However, it was an unspoken rule that women do not practice such arts.

The soldier listed off some of the things Wess would need for the hunt, and they spoke of a few more details before the man departed.

Wess turned to me

"He said that they have not hurt any humans yet, but it is a large pack and it is inevitable that they will injure or kill someone." He told me this in hushed tones, so he would not frighten the younger kids. "He said we will be leaving in two days time."

I nodded, "We best get you ready then."


	6. Apples

The noises subsided as soon as the door shut, it had been a hectic Tuesday morning; Wess had been doing last minute preparing, Jacob and Nathan were fighting for a reason that I never figured out, and Lyssy had been whiny all day.

Wess had ended up walking with Jacob and Nate to the schoolhouse because that was where the hunting party was meeting. As they were walking out the door, Isabella came in to take Lyssy. I realized that Isabella had turned from a best friend to me into a babysitter for Lyssy ever since father died.

I felt sorry that I was not able to be a sister to Lyssy and a friend to Isabella.

I had been banished from the Berggren house until I was quote, 'Fully recovered from my little sickness.' You can imagine exactly how annoyed that made me.

I tried cleaning my house that morning, but I quickly found that since I deep cleaned it every Saturday there was really nothing for me to do.

I finally gave up. I changed into the gold and cream dress; it really was not very fancy when it did not have the mesh skirt. I put on my regular shoes and walk out the door.

I walked aimlessly, hoping I would run into Isabella and Lyssy, but I did not.

I only turned back around when I reached the edges of the north district. As I was heading home, I passed through the tent market. This was the only tent market in all of Rhenia; it expanded for quite a distance, and nomads from all over came just to sell their goods here.

People were rushing about trying to finish their errands. I wandered around, looking at all the pretty things, and taking my time.

As the sun reached its limit in the sky my stomach growled, so I bought some fruit and sat on a large unoccupied crate. I watched the people push by each other; they concentrated only on where they were going.

I noticed a little girl, around the ages of six or seven; she sat huddled off behind one of the smaller tents. When I made up my mind to go talk to her, a loud crash off to my right made me momentarily forget the hungry looking girl.

A fat man had thrown a big mettle bowl at a retreating boy, "Thief!" He yelled. One of the men that were standing near by grabbed the boy by the ear and dragged him back to the big man, the boy tried to kick or bite everyone that touched him. I smiled at the fire in the boys eyes; I could tell he had a good reason for stealing whatever it was.

I moved closer, both so that I could hear what they said to each other, and so that if anything went wrong I could do something quicker.

"Where is the apple that you took?" The large boisterous man asked, or rather yelled at the boy.

"I do not have it. I did not steal from you." He nearly whispered. I knew he was lying, and everyone else did too.

"Why, you little…" The man raised a large hand up behind him, ready to bring it down as hard as he could on the boy.

"Stop!" I screamed, but when the man ignored me, I did the only thing I could think to do; I threw myself in front of the boy. He struck me across the cheek. I tried not to cry out in pain, but it felt like he was crushing my face, and he probably was. I gasped for breath.

"What are you doing?" The man yelled in my face.

"He's my son." I lied, but it was believable. He had blond hair and brown eyes, just like me, I figured that acting like he was my son would be the only way to get him out of there safely. I had never seen the boy a day in my life.

The man took a step back; he probably realized how hard he had hit me. I could feel my face swelling up, and I'm sure it was bruised.

He looked up and down me then said in a desperate tone, "I'm sorry m'lady, if- if there is anything I can do to make it up to you…" I realized that it was a good decision to wear the dress today; he seemed to think that I was a noblewoman.

"Come along Jacob, your father is going to hear about this." I hoped that I did not overdo the air of a noble. I gave the man a coin that was four times what one apple was worth, and then I picked up two more apples, grabbed the boy's hand, and walked out of the ring of onlookers that had amassed in size.

So many people had been watching what I had done. Some of them saw how much damage my face had gotten, then they turned to the man with disgust written on their faces.

I weaved through the crowd, dodging horses, "Excuse us- Pardon me.

We walked until we were far enough away and we would not be noticed by anyone. Then I ducked down a path between two tents.

I handed the boy one of the apples, he looked into my eyes, questioning why I was being so kind. I just nodded to the apple. He paused, then pulled another apple out of one of his tall boots, I wondered how no one had noticed the lump. He held it out to me, but I just shook my head.

He held the apple I had given him close to his chest, and then bit into the apple from his boot. He closed his eyes as he slowly chewed; it looked as if he had not had a thing to eat in a very long time. We sat down on some chopped wood. I then remembered the girl behind the tent, and wished I could go back to give her the apple that I had picked up for her.

"What is your name?" I asked quietly, the reason we had not been talking so far was that the people in the tents we were between would hear us.

He studied me; I could tell he was deciding whether he should tell me or not, but in the end I think my kindness won out. "Edmund Blake."

I smiled, "My name is Brietta, and you can call me Brie. How old are you Edmund?"

"I turned thirteen last month." This made me pause; he was surprisingly small for a thirteen year old.

"May I ask? Do- Do you have any family Edmund?" I really hoped that he did.

"I have me a sister, our parents died over a year ago in a fire."

"I am so sorry; I lost both of my parents also."

He looked at me sympathetically, and I could not help but feel like I was the child that needed comforting in this situation.

"Where do you live?"

"We go in woods, and I hunt with my bow, but the wolves scare Anna, so we come to the kingdom."

"How old is your sister?"

"Seven."

I sat up straighter, "Was she with you in the market today?"

"Aye, but I lost her in all the commotion."

"Well, let's go get her then, I have an apple that was meant for her."

He smiled at me with a look of awe, I flushed at this, and I could see that I was not going to be able to simply part ways with this boy.

"I stole the apple, because I was afraid for her, she is sick and needs to eat. I've never stolen before; the Good Book says it is sin."

I had known it was for a good reason, I nodded, "It was okay… this time."

He rounded a corner, and we came to a small place under some stairs. "We meet here, if she lose me, she come here. 'Tis a safe place." His accent broke through at some points I smiled.

I stood a little ways away, so that I would not frighten the girl. As soon as Edmund got close to the stairs, a little body flung itself out from under them, and clung to her big brother's leg, he picked her up in a hug. I felt tears coming but I suppressed them in time for Edmund to turn around with a pale Anna holding onto his neck.

"This is Brie, she is good." He said into Anna's hair, she had buried her face into his shoulder when she saw me.

She slowly peeked at me, I held out the apple to her, and her eyes went round. The doctor in me pointed out several things that needed seeing to. I handed it to her; she looked at Edmund, asking permission, before she took it from me. She ate it quickly, unlike the way her brother did.

"Edmund I'm going to go get some milk for Anna, I will be right back." He nodded gratefully.

I hurried away; I decided that even though Wess and I already had our hands full, I was going to take them home with me. Anna could sleep with Lyssy in her big bed, and Edmund could sleep in Jacob's room on the extra bed from the attic.

When I got back I presented the idea to Edmund, he was hesitant. "I trust you, but I do not want to be trouble for you." He said sincerely.

"You would not be a trouble, you would fit right in. You and Anna could go to school with the boys. And important most of all, Anna would have the food she needs." I knew that I had just played a little dirty, but I already cared too much for both of these children.

He had a look of defeat, "We will go wit' you, but if we are trouble you must make us leave."

I smiled, "I promise."

Over the week, Edmund and Anna were settled comfortably in our home, the two of them got along nicely with my siblings. I was rather proud of the way Jacob and Nate welcomed them, and made them comfortable.

I called on the Doctor from the north district to have a look at Anna, because I did not have the equipment that he did. The whole hour that he was there was tense, when he finally finished looking her over he came out of the room with a frown on his face. He pulled me aside and said in hushed tones, "She is very sick, it is possible, not likely, but possible that she may die from this." I caught my breath, that poor little girl.

"She has a strong chance of recovering, just do as I say." He then described to me a long detailed list of what to do if some specific thing happened. Like if she started throwing up, then I should do such and such. Most of the stuff on the list I would have done anyway though.

Wess came home two days after the doctor's visit, he was ecstatic about having the children. However, I saw weariness in his eyes about how he could make extra money to feed these two new mouths.

After praying and thinking about it, we both decided that it was best that I brought them home with me that day.

Wess had taken some convincing when it came to the fat man at the market. When he heard about what happened he had stood up and started walking out the door, I had barely been able to stop him in time; he had been ready to pound the man into the ground.

Edmund looked up to all the males in the family, and I often caught him watching and mimicking Wess.

Wess' report on the wolves was that they were all dead, I felt a little sorry about this, but I decided that it was better this way.

Now everyone was one step closer to safety.

_**Prince Damian's POV…**_

_**I was riding back to the castle from the fighting arena, when I noticed a small crowd gathering at the tent market. I eased Thunder through the people, and stopped just far away enough to hear what was going on. There was a boy and a man, I heard the man say something about an apple. **_

_**The boy responded to quietly for me to hear, but I knew his answer angered the man. "Why you little…" I was about to send an arrow through the man's hand as soon as it went up, but a woman's scream stopped me. I thought someone had seen me with the bow and was panicking that I would do something rash. **_

_**But then I saw her… she was just as beautiful as I remembered. I realized what her intentions were a second to late. Smack! I flinched, then I was off the horse, the man had had enough time to see Brietta throw herself in front of the boy, and he could have stopped the blow if he had tried. **_

_**I was going to either have him arrested, or whatever punishment I could think of in the time it took to get to her. When I was only a few people away from her she said something that shocked me to the core. "He's my son!" She cried desperately. **_

_**The man's face showed the shock I was feeling, he apologized to her. I could not have prepared myself for the thing she said next, "Come along Jacob, your father is going to hear about this." **_

"_**She's married." I whispered, I felt defeated.**_

_**I turned around and walked back to Thunder, it seemed that many more people had gathered since I had gotten there, I mounted Thunder and rode in the opposite direction than she had been heading.**_

_**I was not sure how to explain the feeling that was lingering around my heart, but I knew it hurt terribly.**_


	7. Evicted

My head hurt, and my arms were scratched up. Wess, the doctor, and Bertha had ganged up on me, and forced me out of my own house that morning, telling me not to come back until I felt as if I had wasted a whole day. Wess tossed a bow onto the street beside me before he shut the door on me, wordlessly suggesting I go to the forest.

I did, and that's how I ended up East of Rhenia, bow in my hand, and my hair tangled up with a branch. I considered screaming for help, but no one was anywhere near for miles around. I tried braking the branch, but that didn't work, I jerked on the knotted mess that was my hair, only making it worse though.

I eventually tired out, my head was throbbing, and I was about to collapse. I sank to my knees, that was as far down as I could go with out hurting my hair.

Then, I cried.

You never realize just how much a little branch can mess with your emotions until your stuck in the middle of nowhere.

I let out all the bottled up frustrations and worries of the past several years out, not missing a thing. Somewhere in the muddled time I was crying I started blaming God for all the things that happened to my family and me.

"If He's the one that I should thank for good things, shouldn't I blame him for bad things too?" I shouted at the sky, not really praying, not really talking, just… shouting.

"You could have saved mother and father, you could have given them a little bit longer! I'm not… good enough, I needed them, I still need them. I would rather die than raise these kids wrong, I need some guidance, God." My angry rant came to a sudden stop when the branch snapped. I gasped, I hadn't even been putting any weight on it.

Then I realized that It wasn't me that broke it. I looked up, into the face of a man.


	8. Comfortable

_**A/N**_

**It is done… Mwhahahaha!**

~*~H~*~

I couldn't see his face. The sun was shining directly behind him, and it glared in my eyes every time I tried to look at him.

"Hold still." He said softly.

"Okay." I said, half sarcastically, I wouldn't have been able to move anyway.

I felt his hands on my hair, I automatically flinched, but his slow movements made me feel calmer.

"How in the world…?" He mumbled, as he gently pulled on a strand of hair. I shrugged, unsure how I had done it myself.

Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of movement. And I realized that we weren't alone.

"There, all done." He announced and I felt myself fall free from the branch.

I turned to face my rescuer, "Thank you so much-" I stopped speaking when I saw his face, it was more beautiful than any I had ever seen. God had taken special care when he created this man. He had Rhenia hair and eyes, but it was his overall features mixed together that struck me dumb.

"It's no problem at all… I'm Jeremy." He said, reaching a hand out to shake.

I tore my stare away from his face long enough to see where his hand was so that I could shake it. Then something weird happened, a strange tingle went up my arm as our skin touched. It was more of a shock, like electricity was running between us. I glanced at his face, trying to see if he felt it too, but his expression was unreadable, I guess I was the only one that felt it.

When I forgot to offer my name, he said, "And this is Aaron, Jesse, Stephen, and Sarah." He gestured towards four children that stood a little ways away. They all had blond hair and blue eyes, Eldemarians.

I briefly wondered why four Eldemarian children were traveling through the forest with a grown Rhenian man.

The oldest boy, Aaron, I believe, smiled slightly as he looked back and forth between Jeremy and myself. "Hi." He finally said.

I smiled back at him, moving closer to the children, "Hello." I noticed that the only girl in the group shrunk back behind Aaron at my approach. Peeking out from behind him with her large blue eyes, I couldn't help but feel she was extremely afraid of me.

I smiled in what I hoped was a comforting way as I crouched down at her level, "I'm Brietta." When her response was a quivering lip, I retreated back to Jeremy.

He met me with a grin, "She doesn't particularly like strangers." He said in a low tone, so that only I could hear. I marveled at how a little grin could make me dizzy, a full on smile from this man would probably kill me. I just sighed in response to his words.

"I guess I'll just have to build up enough trust with her." I said, as I absentmindedly watched the little girl.

"That could take awhile." He said as he watched me with a thoughtful look on his face.

"I wonder…" I trailed off when I saw that one of the smaller boys had a rip in his shirt, the cloth around the rip was slightly bloody. I moved over to him, my doctor senses kicking in. I crouched down, and fingered the ripped part, "How did this happen?" I asked him gently.

He glanced at Jeremy, who was now by my side, studying the tear as well. Jeremy lifted an eyebrow, at the boy, "Well? How did it happen?" He asked.

Tears welled in the boy, Stephen's, eyes, "Please don't be angry with me Mr. Jeremy! It was an accident! Please don't leave me in the forest for the wolves to eat!" He suddenly, desperately, cried out.

Jeremy gently pulled Stephen into an embrace, "What makes you think I would do that?" He asked softly.

"Y- you've just been so nice to us, you have. And no one's really that nice, so I was sure you would be really angry at me for tearing my shirt and getting it bloody!" A big tear rolled down his cheek as he said all of this.

"Stephen, I would never leave any of you kids alone, I love you all too much. And even if I get angry with you for something, I will quickly forgive you, because I know that you love me, and would never do anything to purposefully hurt me. Okay? Now, show us this cut of yours." I watched, with tears in my own eyes as the loving man smoothed away all of the small boys fears.

Stephen turned in Jeremy's arms, to where we could both see the cut. I gritted my teeth at the long gash. I could see potential infection written all over it. "Do you have any water?" I asked, getting right down to work. "And I'll need a clean piece of cloth."

Jeremy sent the other two boys to get the things I had asked for. I mentally listed off all the plants native to this forest that prevented infections. It was a good thing my father made me learn everything about the forests surrounding Rhenia, because if he hadn't I would have had to get Stephen all the way back home before I could treat him.

"How did this happen, Stephen?" I asked in the cheerful doctor's voice I had picked up from all the doctors visits I had gone on with my father.

"I was getting sticks for the fire yesterday, and I tripped on a big log thing and it got cut on a bush." He said as he tried to see the cut.

"Do you remember what kind of bush you cut it on?" Jeremy asked.

He shook his little blond head, "I wasn't paying at-attention. But I think it was a poky plant."

My eyes widened, _'Oh, God please don't let it be the fire-plant!' _I prayed urgently. "What did this plant look like?" I asked.

He screwed up his face in thought, "I think it was green… with red splotchy things on it! Yeah, the red spots were a little bit pink." He said as he wiggled his finger, indicating just how much pink was on it.

I could feel my face paling at his words, but I kept my voice steady. "Good job Stephen, I know exactly what plant you're talking about." I smiled at the end, trying to cover up my growing fear.

I glanced at Jeremy, he was watching me, the same fear showing in his eyes. "Can I speak to you?" I asked him.

"Hey, buddy, why don't you go see what's holding the boys up with that water." As Stephen walked away, I winced when he started scratching at the cut.

I looked back to Jeremy, the fear, and worry in his eyes told me just how much he loved that boy. "Well? What is it that made you go white earlier?" He asked.

I sighed, "I think Stephen may have come in contact with a commonly known bush called, the fire-plant. It isn't harmful… unless it gets into the bloodstream… some people used to use it as a torture device, but that was before it became illegal to use."

"So, you're saying what? Stephen will be in agony?" He asked.

I paused, "Yes." He buried his head in his hands, "I myself have gotten a rather large fire-plant thorn stuck in my hand before, if I'm telling the truth… It… It was the worst pain I have ever experienced. And since Stephen is so young…" I trailed off, "I suggest we get him to Rhenia as fast as possible."

He looked at me incredulously, "Rhenia? What do you mean Rhenia? If we take these children to Rhenia they will be eaten up by those prejudice fools!" He ran a hand through his hair, "Trust me, I know what they do to Eldemarians. We don't want to go there."

My temper began rising, "Sir, you cannot expect to be able to make it to any other town in time to save him! Rhenia is the closest. Look at me, I have Eldemari in my blood, and yet they have seemed to accept me ever since I was a baby. I think you're just speaking out of your own prejudice." I said angrily.

"I don't even know you, for all we know you could be lying about the fire-plant. I thought that you were an Eldemarian, and that… that you would understand, but I guess I was wrong." He said, the look on his face sent a stab of pain through my heart.

I sighed, "Look, you all can come to my house, if people know you are with me, they won't even think about how weird it is that so many blonds are living under one roof in Rhenia. I can tell anyone that asks that you are my cousins. Just let me help Stephen." I said pleadingly.

He studied me for a long moment, then he finally said, "I guess I can put aside my grudges if it means saving Stephen." I smiled, hoping for him to smile back, but I had no such luck.

~*~H~*~

Apparently, traveling through the forest with five other living beings is a lot slower than if I had been trying to get home by myself. We had been sitting for almost an hour on what Jeremy had called a lunch break. Jesse had taken his own sweet time in eating his sandwich. I watched with growing impatience, but I held my tongue, knowing that if I ever wanted to gain these kids trust I couldn't just lash out at them.

I had been sitting on a log, thinking about how if we had just kept moving we would be sitting in my house right now.

Jeremy stood up from his place across the fire, he had been staring at me for about half an hour, I had been trying to ignore him, but that's kind of hard when he has golden brown eyes that bore into your very soul.

He came over and eased himself down beside me on the small log, "I'm sorry for shouting at you earlier… I just want what's best for these kids. You have no idea how much they've been through." He said it all in a low tone, I turned my head to face him. The fire seemed to be reflecting its heat off of him, and I couldn't help but lean towards him as a particularly cold breeze blew by.

"I understand…" I suddenly thought about how he had seen me freaking out at God, "So… how much of my… rant did you hear?" I asked with a small smile, trying to take the seriousness out of the question.

"Ah, you mean the shouting that probably saved your life? We wouldn't have even been passing relatively near you if Aaron hadn't heard you yelling. And to answer your question, I heard enough to know you have the same questions I've been asking God for a long time. When I could actually hear what you were saying, I was shocked. You were repeating the exact same prayer I had prayed this morning." He said in a slightly grave voice.

I reached out a hand to his shoulder, "I'm glad you were there." I whispered.

He turned his face my way a bit more, "You know, its weird, I'm more comfortable around you than I am most people I have known for years. And I've known you for what? Four hours?" He had whispered it, and I began to wonder just why we were whispering, but I couldn't help it.

"Yeah, I've noticed. I'm more comfortable around you than I am my own brother." I admitted quietly.

There was a time lapse where nothing happened, we just watched each other, thinking about our own troubles as our eyes soaked up each others faces. I felt the need to break the stare, but I also knew I wouldn't be the first to look away.

We were suddenly jerked out of our strange moment by Jesse's exuberant voice, "I'm finished!" It was as if it was a very big victory for him to finish a small sandwich.

I slid my hand off of Jeremy's shoulder before he stood up and announced that we were leaving.

~*~H~*~

_**A/N**_

**I'm so very sorry, I'm a terrible updater.**

**I hope ya'll like this chapter! **

**You may feel like its moving really quickly between Jeremy and Brie, but… **

**Yeah it is moving really quickly, and I have no excuse for that.**

**I just want to say thanks to everyone who Reviewed, Faved, and Subscribed!**

**I really am grateful to you all.**

**I would name all the names of my dedicated readers but… **

**I'm lazy. **

**I have no real excuse for not doing it.**

**I also have no excuse for not PMing every single one of you and thanking you… **

**but I'm not as organized as most writers on here, and I'm doing good just by updating.**

**Now I'm just blathering/rambling. I myself like the word blathering better.**

**I'll stop talking now.**

**I love you all.**

_**Ilikemutemath, **_**a classic criminal.**


	9. Stranger Danger

**A/N**

**I finally got it finished!**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>When we broke through the edge of the forest I realized with a groan that we had come in through the South district, and were now standing in the poorest part of Rhenia.<p>

The North district was the most wealthy section of Rhenia. Then there was the East and the West districts. They were somewhere between wealthy and poor. It was where people with normal paychecks lived. It was all in a circle, and in the middle stood the castle.

We needed to get to the East district. But I would rather not go through the part of the kingdom where lots of people got robbed, and sometimes badly beaten to get there.

We walked for a short distance before I felt someone watching me. I turned around quickly, only to find a man with cold eyes and dirty clothes watching me in a way that made me feel sick to my stomach. He flashed teeth that made his gross shirt look almost white in comparison, then he licked his lips, making me want to gag. He slowly stood, and I saw a flash of a gruesome looking knife strapped to the side of his belt

I grabbed Jeremy's arm, "We're in the wrong part of town, we need to get out of here quickly!" I whispered in a slightly frantic voice. I glanced at the man out of the corner of my eye, he was working his way towards us. I tightened my grip on Jeremy's arm.

Jeremy only glanced at the man, grinned, and wrapped an arm around my shoulders in a protective way.

I shivered as I felt his fingers brush my hair away from my ear, he leaned down and whispered, "I won't let him hurt you." He took both of my shoulders in his hands, turned me away from the man, and gently pushed me forward. It felt so strange, Jeremy had just made my heart stop in my chest, and yet he didn't seem like he was affected by me at all.

Prince Damian suddenly flashed into my mind for reasons I'll never be able to explain.

_***~H~***_

_**Jeremy's POV;**_

My chest tightened as I watched her walk away, something about her made me hurt even when I was just looking at her. It was a good pain, but it hurt nonetheless.

I had gone on an impulse and had gotten very close to her, it was an impulse most men would have ignored. Most men would be good and keep their distance, I'm not a normal man. The way she was standing there with a scared look corrupting her delicate features twisted at my heart and made me want to pull her small frame to my chest and kiss her. I had settled for the less bold move, as I whispered in her ear.

I hurried to catch up to her and the children.

I wasn't sure if Brietta realized how closely the kids watched her. We all would have thought she was some kind of angel if she hadn't gone and gotten herself stuck in a measly branch. She was pretty enough to be one, and she was certainly graceful enough. One couldn't help but to watch her.

We all made it to the East district without further incident, but once we went from dirt to brick road, all chaos seemed to break loose.

_***~H~***_

_**Brietta's POV;**_

We had been walking in the middle of the road, because there were no carriages or horses on the South district's streets.

I had momentarily forgotten how drastic the differences between the South and East districts were.

"WHOA!" A man's shout came from behind us. Snapping my head around, I saw four large horses barreling towards us. Suddenly, everything slowed, except for my brain.

I looked to see who was in the way of the oncoming carriage. Jeremy was walking off more to the side of the road than I was and he had three kids on the other side of him, so they were safe, I was the only one that would get hurt. I gasped as I realized there were supposed to be four kids.

Stephen walked beside me.

He looked so small compared to the horses. He would be flattened.

"Get out of the way!" Someone yelled. _"I'm trying!" _My brain screamed.

There was a sickening snap of wood, and the clacking of hooves seemed to be getting much closer, at a much faster pace.

"The brakes! I can't stop!"

Let me tell you, those were the five scariest words I have ever heard in my entire life.

_***~H~***_

_**Prince Damian's POV;**_

It was early in the morning, the kingdom was barely even moving around. I sat on my window sill, letting one leg dangle carelessly out the window. The kingdom had a golden glow to it from the sun that was slowly peaking over the hills to the East. Little flower petals floated past me on the wind, making the world seem more serene and quiet.

The past weeks I had gone between locking myself in my room, wandering through the tent market, and sitting on the bench in the hidden garden. I generally avoided people who wanted to know what was wrong, I couldn't speak about it without my throat closing up.

I yanked a rose off the trellis outside my window, "I didn't slowly drift into love like a normal person. I tripped on love, and fell onto my face." I slammed my hand into a fist, crushing the delicate rose. What I'd done slowly washed over me, I tenderly opened my hand again, and stared brokenly down at the mess I had made of the crimson petals.

I sighed; something I had caught myself doing a lot since I had found out about Brietta being married. I couldn't help it though, I felt as if I could maybe lighten the heaviness that loomed over me if I let my breath out. It never worked, but I still did it often.

I was not exactly something people wanted to be around. I wasn't sure what I was going to do next. I couldn't seem to get over her, it was like a brick wall that surrounded me, I couldn't go around it, I had to face it.

A knock came on my door.

"Who's there?"

A female voice drifted through the door, "Your mother wants to see you, she said to meet her in the library."

"Thank you, Mrs. Fauna, tell her I'll be down in a moment."

"Yes sir." A pause, "Do you need anything else Damian?"

"No that will be all… Thank you."

Sometimes I had to remind myself that other people saw the castle as a place to go sight seeing. It had always been just a normal home for me. The servants weren't just the ones who bowed to my every beck and call. They were my friends, playmates, brothers, wrestling partners, sisters, shoulders to cry on. They were the ones I would turn to if I ever needed anything, and not just because that was there job, it was because I trusted them.

The staff was worried for me, I could tell by the way they made my favorite foods, or the way the younger kids would quiet down the minute I entered the room whereas they used to pile on top of me and shout and carry on.

Pulling my leg inside, I grabbed an old shirt from a chair by my bed, I wasn't sure if it was clean, but I didn't really care, its not like anyone would notice. I rolled the sleeves up to my elbows, it was a warm day.

I grabbed the window ledge, and swung over it. I dropped down and landed in a crouch. It had only been a two story drop, but the lady I had landed beside still screamed like I was trying to kill myself. I winced as I realized everyone around was watching me like I might do something drastic.

I stretched my legs from my crouched position, "I'm not suicidal. Don't worry." They didn't look convinced.

I rolled my eyes and headed in the direction of the library. "Sometimes I wonder why I'm not though_._"I mumbled.

I pushed open the oversized double doors that hid the massive collection of books. My eyes skimmed the room before landing on my mother. She was the very characterization of beautiful. She had black hair, and dark eyes, but her skin was creamier than most Rhenians, making her hair and eyes look all the more dark.

She was sitting at the furthest side of the large room, her eyes turned down at a book she held in her lap. Strange. She could still be sitting up gracefully even when she was bent over a book.

I ran my fingers through my hair, hoping it wasn't to messed up by sleep. I strode over to her, she looked up and smiled brightly at me before I stooped and placed a kiss on her smooth cheek.

"Sit down Damian." She said, gesturing to the seat across from her.

"How are you mother?" I asked.

"I'm well dear… But I'm concerned about you."

I sighed _again_, and waved my hand for her to continue.

"What happened? You seemed so happy, then one day, you suddenly…" She faded off.

I shifted my head into my hands, I couldn't look at her.

"I met a girl at my ball."

"Yes! Your father told me about that… Oh… she rejected you? I'm so sorry honey, I didn't…"

"No, she didn't reject me." I breathed out again, "I went to the tent market. There was a boy there, who had stolen some kind of fruit from a booth. The owner of the booth raised a hand to beat the boy. I was going to stop him, but I was distracted by a girl throwing herself in front of him. It was _her. _She said he was her she said that the boys father would be hearing about it…" I trailed off as my throat started closing again.

My mother was silent.

I looked at her. She had her eyes trained on some distant spot in the library, and she was rubbing a piece of her dark hair between her fingers, she was thinking.

"Mother?"

She looked at me, as if suddenly remembering I was still there.

She frowned. "What if she isn't married?" She asked.

Confused, I sputtered, "She was married. I'm sure of it, or she wouldn't have announced it like that in front of that whole crowd."

"I don't know, I think I would have done the same thing. Though it wouldn't have worked as well for me as it did her, since I'm the queen, and everyone already knows who my son is." She said with a smile.

"What do you mean? Are you saying you think she was lying to save that boy?"

"Did she make him give the fruit back?"

"What?"

"Did she make him give the fruit back?"

"I- no, she paid for it, then got more."

"That wasn't her son."

"How do you know?"

"Do you remember when you took that necklace from Margery because you thought it was pretty?"

"Yes, you made me give it back and apologize for stealing it."

"She would not have let that boy get away with stealing something if she were his mother. I'm sure she was just trying to help the boy. Did he look hungry?"

"Yes." I groaned, angry at myself for not realizing all this sooner.

She smiled and pat my back gently.

"Go find her, find out for yourself that she's not married."

"Thank you. You always have the answers" I said as I leant to kiss her cheek once more.

"And I always will." She said laughingly.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN**_

**Hey guys!** **I'm so sorry it took so long! ****I'm sure you all hate me. (Especially after the cliffhanger ;) ****I don't usually put cliffy's, but something made me want to torture my poor readers. ****To make it up to ya'll I'm going to start (for real) thanking my readers on every chapter.**

**Pokemonchen:**_** Yeah, I probably will tell more about Jeremy and the kids, but it may turn into nothing but a side story, if that's what the readers want :) Thanks for always reviewing! And for being the chapter 'tester' :D**_

**Spongebox**_**: It's here! :) Thank-you so much for reviewing!**_

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	10. Heroes

**Brietta's POV;**

I turned back to the four very, very large horses, who were tossing their heads in protest to the way their owner was yanking ruthlessly on the reigns.

I looked into the man's eyes; there was a fear in them, one that could only be born of real danger. We both knew I was just seconds away from dying

I closed my eyes in defeat. There wasn't any was I could save myself… there wasn't even any way I could save Stephen.

The horses reached me much quicker than I had expected, but instead of trampling me as I thought they would, it was more like they collided with me.

The back of my head slammed against something hard. Dizziness was the first sensation that hit me after the pain faded slightly. I still couldn't really feel anything other than my hurting head and the dizziness.

I suddenly felt like I was falling again, then my right side smashed up against something, it felt like several of my bones cracked. All my breath left me, and I had trouble getting it back.

Then I lost all consciousness. But not before I heard multiple voices shout my name.

_**~*H*~**_

**Prince Damian's POV;**

Riding aimlessly through the streets clearly wasn't the best plan I had ever come up with.

It was hours past lunch and I hadn't stopped once since I had left the castle. I was about ready to give up.

No one I had asked knew anyone named Brietta. And the one time someone did know where a Brietta lived, I knocked on the door to her house, and it turned out to be an old woman that someone could accidentally mistake for a male… I made that mistake… It didn't end well.

I slid off Thunder; he had patiently walked through Rhenia while I fought the insanity that was trying to overtake my mind.

I held Thunder's reigns while I walked. Not that I needed to, he would just follow me anyway, but I needed something to busy my hands so that they wouldn't start fidgeting again.

Frustration washed through me, I hurried my pace, hoping maybe if I was quicker I would find her or something like that. I wasn't even sure what part of Rhenia I was in right then. I didn't even know which way the castle was.

Suddenly, a cry came from straight ahead; I came to attention before sizing up the situation. A girl and a boy were standing in the middle of the road, while a carriage came charging at them. I saw how the carriage couldn't possibly slow enough, because of the steep slope it was flying down. Then the brake snapped as the driver tried in vain to stop the horses.

I jerked into action, running as fast as I could. I dove for the girl and the boy, catching the girl around the waist, and grabbing the boy's shirt as I went down, pulling him with me. I flipped around right before I slammed into the ground so that I wouldn't crush the little girl, and I would take the impact of the fall.

I realized as soon as we hit the ground that we hadn't gone far enough, and the oncoming carriage wheels could very well still amputate our legs. I also knew I wasn't going to be able to move quick enough to help anything.

Someone's hand closed around my collar, I was flung away from the road by a strong arm. I slammed into the wall of one of the shops beside the road. Pain registered through my shoulders, but also an immense relief rushed through me as I saw that I had kept a good grip on both the boy and the girl.

The girl was half on my chest half off, because of the way I had grabbed her. Her hair was tickling my chin, I looked down at her to make sure she was okay; she hadn't moved an inch. Judging by her height and weight I would have bet my life that she was fourteen or fifteen. But I'm also the guy who mistook a woman for a man…

I decided to nudge her a bit. Not wanting to force her to face the world yet, but wanting to make sure she was alive. As my arm moved her head rolled slightly, her hair fell away from where it was covering her face.

The face was pale and unconscious, but I knew who it was right away.

"Brietta!" I exclaimed in alarm and relief. But my voice wasn't the only one that had said that name.

I looked up into the face of someone who looked like he could make a very nice husband for the girl that was currently lying against me.

_**~*H*~**_

**Jeremy's POV;**

I crouched, ready to fling myself at Brietta and Stephen, but before I had the chance someone else was already holding them at my feet.

I glanced at the path the carriage was still on and stiffened. Then I snatched a hand out and grabbed the tall man. My arm muscles felt like they were tearing as I suddenly flung the weight of three human beings across the sidewalk. The pain didn't stop even as I let go, my muscles seemed to have stretched, and were now trying to go back to their original position. Which was extremely painful.

"Brietta!" I said, as I realized how little she was moving. The man that was still holding her against his side had said the exact same thing at the exact same time. He whipped his head around to face me. His surprise was reflected on my face I'm sure.

I frowned, but returned my thoughts to the frail unconscious girl in front of me.

She moaned, and her hand slowly started moving up to her head.

"Brietta?" The man whispered tenderly. Something twisted violently inside of me as I realized this could be someone very special to her. After all, I had just met her that morning, and all I really knew about her was that she had many siblings, and she looked like she should be from Eldemari.

She could be engaged to him, or they could be married for all I knew.

I moved closer, not wanting his face to be the first she saw. It was a childish thought, but I didn't care.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked dazed for a moment, but then she focused, first on him, then on me. She looked confused, and then she gasped. She shot up in his arms, looking around frantically. Her eyes finally landed on Stephen, and she visibly relaxed.

It touched me in a strange way, how she was worried so much about whether Stephen was safe or not.

Stephen slowly put his arms around her. He was shaking. I stood there, shocked that he was actually making physical contact with someone he barely knew. He had been one of the shyer of the four children.

Then the other kids suddenly burst in on the hug. I was astonished, even Sarah had her arms wrapped securely around Brietta's neck. The younger three had huge tears rolling down their faces, Aaron wasn't crying, but he was still clinging to Brietta and Stephen like they were going to go somewhere and leave him behind.

The man slowly stood and joined me as I watched from a safe distance. From the look on his face he wanted to be in on that hug too. Which was the same feeling that was going through me at that moment.

I finally gave in, I didn't care who the man was to Brietta or what he thought of me, they could have died, but now they were safe. I wrapped my left arm around the cluster, I tried wrapping my right arm too, but it wasn't cooperating very well. It was still extremely sore from the sudden strain I had put on it.

"Brietta? Is that you? What on earth are you doing?" I looked up to find a woman staring down at us with an astonished look on her face.

"Lady Berggren?" Brietta asked. I could tell by her voice that she didn't want to turn around to find out if it really was her.

"What a disgrace!" A younger woman said in an awful annoying voice, from her place off beside the older lady.

"Drizzela." Brietta breathed in dread. I frowned, if these women made trouble for Brietta I was going to personally make them repent.

She untangled herself from the multiple arms that were clenched around her, and turned to face the women with a brave glint in her eyes. "What a… pleasant… surprise!" She said with an uncomfortable smile.

"I can see that you are feeling well enough to be traipsing around with stray men. I assume you will be on duty bright an early tomorrow morning." It wasn't a question

The way she made it sound like Brietta's honor was being trampled upon made my blood boil. I could already tell how much I hated this lady.

"I believe I have more than two weeks of dirty dresses that need to be washed. And you know… I think I could find more things for you to clean and fix, since you have all this spare time on your hands and whatnot." Drizzela drawled, even as her eyes trailed almost greedily over me.

I could have choked the both of them when Brietta's face turned bright pink.

But when she glanced over at the other man I realized that _I_ wasn't the reason she was embarrassed, it was _him_.

_**~*H*~**_

**Prince Damian's POV;**

For the first time in my life I felt like punching a lady… If they could even be called that.

I wanted to fix all the pains in _her_ life; it seemed that those women were hurting Brietta's feelings. But I hesitated, because of the other man. He was looking at her protectively, and I felt that I would be overstepping my boundaries if I showed how much I had fallen in love with Brietta by protecting her before the other man had the chance.

I felt confused, and over all cheated. I had gotten my hopes up that Brietta could have also fallen in love the short time that we were together, but then I saw the way the man looked at her. In much the same way I must have looked as I watched her perfect face. I knew that I wasn't the only one in love with her.

I watched her smile sheepishly at the man as the women trooped away. _"I don't have a chance." _I thought to myself.

_Thump._

That was the sound of my heart… It just did a face plant. Love must really enjoy hurting me.

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><p><em><strong>Hey guys!<strong>_

_**How is everyone doing? (I really want an answer to that question.)**_

_**I'm sorry this chapter is so short, I didn't know what else I should add...**_

_**Someone should really put up a, "Warning, don't trip on love sign." for Damian... poor guy.**_

_**I love all of your beautiful faces!**_

_**Pokemonchen; I understand what you're saying. Thanks for sharing your coolness!**_

_**Spongbox1; Yeah, I'm terrible to Damian... But I still have to torture him just a little bit longer! :)**_

_**Booksnake; Welcome to the story! **__**Thanks so much for reviewing, faving, and alerting! **__**You're freaking awesome! Only time will tell what will happen between who. :) **_

_**Have an amazing and magical week!**_


	11. Awkward Moments

"Jeremy, this is Damian. Damian, meet Jeremy." I said with a forced smile. I found that introducing the only two guys I had ever liked in a romantic way proved to be _extremely_ awkward.

Damian was the first to react, he stuck his right hand out to shake. Jeremy didn't take it.

At first I thought he was just ignoring it, but he was looking straight at it. "Umm, I'd love to shake your hand, but I can't move my arm right now, so uh, rain check on that." Jeremy said.

"Oh, yeah, you were the one that saved us weren't you? Thanks man, I thought we were goners." Prince Damian replied.

"Your arm's hurt?" I asked, worried.

"Yeah."

"Let me see." I said, reaching for it.

I started at his fingers, probing for broken bones, and strained muscles. I could feel his eyes on me, but I ignored it.

When I got just above his elbow he sucked in a sharp breath. "I think you may have torn a muscle." I said.

I began reaching for his shoulder, but I hesitated, thinking that maybe I should warn him, but decided against it. I started to massage his upper arm. He winced and I could tell he was trying not to pull away. I knew it hurt, but I also knew he needed to relax his muscles immediately.

"Try to relax. And don't flex your arm." I said in a soothing tone.

"It hurts when I'm not flexing it." He complained quietly.

"I know, but if you don't let it loosen it won't heal as fast and it will hurt worse for much longer."

He grudgingly obliged. But I could tell by the way that his arm would suddenly go solid that he was having trouble.

I continued to rub his arm, slowly working down it. Ending at the palm of his hand. He suddenly closed his fingers around mine. I looked up at his face, then I looked at Damian. He was always at the front of my mind these days. I pulled my hand away, and put it in the pocket of my dress. I was confused, and I didn't want to mess anything up.

"We should go on to my house. I can get the doctor after everyone calms down a bit." I said, turning away from him and continuing our trek down the street.

I felt someone walking beside me. Turning my head a bit, I saw that it was Prince Damian. "So… why are you on this side of town anyway? I mean, It's not any of my business, and I'm grateful and all, but shouldn't you be in the castle, or up in the North district, or even in the woods killing something?" I asked.

"Yeah… You see, I was looking for… you." He said, tripping over his words.

I froze, he didn't realize that I had stopped walking for a few seconds. When he did, he turned around, and stood there, waiting for my reaction.

"You were looking for me?" I asked.

He looked embarrassed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I needed to see if you were attached to anyone."

"What for?" I breathed.

Jeremy interrupted then, "So, are we heading to this house, or will we just stand in the street chatting?"

I blushed before taking Sarah's hand, then I hurried down the street to my home. I stopped outside the gate, turning to the children, "Now, there's a very sick girl upstairs, she's not contagious, but she feels pretty bad. So we all need to be quiet when we get inside." They all nodded solemnly. I smiled, then turned and walked up the path.

"Brie! Where have you been? I was getting worried!" Wess said loudly, before I was engulfed in a hug.

I heard a chuckle come from behind him, "More like he was ready to send out a hunting party for you." Isabella said dryly.

"He was pacing back and forth for the past four hours." Edmund said with a laugh.

I pulled away from him and raised an eyebrow, "I seem to recall someone telling me to, _"leave and don't come back till you feel like you have wasted a whole day." _Doesn't that sound rather familiar?" I asked Wess.

"Hmm, I don't think I've ever heard that said before…" Edmund said, a mischievous smile peeping through his façade.

My jaw dropped, I launched myself at him and started tickling, "What's that you said?" I asked through his peals of laughter.

"I said… that I love you! And, you are always right master Brie! Please stop with the tickling!" He squeaked all this out in one breath.

I straightened and turned around, suddenly remembering that I had guests.

Jacob, Nathaniel, and Lyssy came down to investigate the noises, "See, I told you so. She's the only one that can make someone laugh like that." I heard Nathaniel mutter to Jacob.

"Brie! I thought you wouldn't come back to us." Lyssy cried, as she tried knocking me over with a hug.

I laughed, "Of course I came back! I just can't stay away from all your adorable faces! I was only gone for a few hours." I said, as I lightly pinched her cheeks. "How's Anna doing?" I asked Wess.

"She's great! The doctor said she's rapidly improving, thanks to the amazing nurse she has." He said as he sent me a smile.

"That's wonderful news!" I said in relief, "I have some people you should meet, Wess." I said, pointing behind him, no one had noticed the few more bodies in the room until I pointed them out.

"Wesley Anderson?" Prince Damian suddenly asked.

"You know each other?" I asked in surprise, but was ignored.

Wess' eyes widened, "Prince Damian! What are you doing here?" He asked.

_I was stalking your sister. _I thought dryly, yet the thought also made me smile.

"I met Brietta at my ball, then I saw her on the street today when I was out and about. And somehow I ended up following this group here." He said, making the whole stalking thing sound normal and not creeper-ish.

"And who are you?" Wess asked Jeremy.

I interrupted though, "Wess, this is Jeremy, Andrew, Jesse, Stephen, and Sarah. Guys, and girl, meet my big little brother, Wesley." I said with a smile, using my favorite nick-name for him.

_**Prince Damian's POV:**_

I was invited to supper, and afterwards I somehow found myself in a room with Wesley, Jeremy, and Brietta. We had been enjoying a good conversation, but it died down and I found myself having to fight my eyes from shifting towards Brietta.

"How would everyone like some cake?" Brietta asked, breaking the silence.

Everyone agreed that it sounded heavenly, I was about to volunteer to help her, when Wesley piped up that he would. I had met Wesley Anderson on the wolf hunting trip, he saved my life on that trip, and I in turn made sure his back was covered at all times, we bonded in the first few days.

I was left alone with Jeremy. We sat in awkward silence for a while, but I was just bursting to ask one specific question.

I finally got the guts up, and I just asked it, "Are you and Brietta together?" I said, but at the same time I opened my mouth he did too, and the exact same thing came from him.

"Whoa." He said.

"It's like we've been reading each other's minds. It's getting freaky." I exclaimed.

We watched each other, before we simultaneously cracked up… Weird.

I straightened my face out after I had had my share of laughing, and said, "But seriously though, you aren't together?"

He sighed, "No, we met this morning. But, to tell you the truth, I don't think It'd be hard for me to fall for her."

"I understand completely." I said in a grim tone. "I already had that happen to me."

He studied me, "What's stopping you?"

I winced, "I was looking for her today, so that I could tell her about how I felt. But, I saw she was in love with you, so I couldn't do anything about it."

He laughed, "What are you talking about? Did you see the way she looked at you, man? You're a Prince for heaven's sake! You can have anything you want, including her. Which I think you may already have."

"No, did you see the way she looks at you? She think's you're a god. You have looks that could kill, what someone like Brietta wants is an attractive man, she doesn't care for power or riches. She is falling in love with you, the man who saved her twice in one day, the man who appeared mysteriously, and brought kids with him." I said, knowing that Brietta loved children.

Brietta came back right then, "I think you're wrong about that." Jeremy said quietly to me, before turning and helping Brietta serve up big slices of cake.

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><p><strong>(AN)**

**Hey!**

**Thanks to my amazing reviewers! You guys rock my world!**

**I can taste an ending coming up fast!**

**Question, Who should Brietta end up with? ****Jeremy? ****Damian? ****Neither? ****Or do you want me to make alternate endings?**

**Please Review!**

_Pokemonchen; **Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out how I accomplished that :P As always, thanks!**_

_Booksnake; **Your reviews make me smile every time I read them. I'm so glad you think it keeps getting better.**_


	12. Sleepless Night

_**Brietta's POV**_

I woke with a start. I had just been having a nightmare. I couldn't remember what it was about, but what I did remember was horrifying. I wondered if it was because I was still in shock from the accident that afternoon.

I looked over at Anna, she had been moved to my room to avoid disturbing the other girls with her cough that sometimes kept her up. She slept soundly on a cot on the other side of the room.

I silently pushed my covers off, and tiptoed out the door and down the stairs. When I reached the kitchen, I struck a match to light the candle on the table. But when the light flooded the room, I almost screamed at the sight of a man sitting right in front of me at the table. My sleep clouded mind took a second to register that it was Jeremy, and when it did I had to laugh.

He smiled with me, "Sorry I scared you. I'll have to remember where that candle is next time."

"It's fine… Couldn't sleep?" I asked him.

He shook his head, "Nah, I had bad dreams every time I closed my eyes."

"Me too." I told him.

I studied him, he looked like he needed sleep just as bad as I did, maybe worse. "Stephen's taking that poison pretty well. If his condition was going to get more serious he would have a high fever by now. But his strong little body has reduced it to just an itch." I said, trying to calm his nerves. "I'm going over to the North side to get the doctor in the morning. He'll bring the medication for him, and Stephen will be well enough."

He yawned, "It's not just him that I'm worried about." He said. He seemed distracted as he spoke and I suspected that he would rather be in bed than talking to me.

"Can I help?" I offered.

"I think I should tell you a few things first.… I'm taking the children to an orphanage in Elenaar."

"They're orphans?" I asked sadly.

"Yes. They were all abandoned. Twice. The owners of the orphanage they were staying at recently ran off with all the donation money they had gotten. My commander left me in charge of them. I found the orphanage in Elenaar, and decided that I would take them there. We had been traveling for almost a month, that's when we found you." Jeremy explained softly.

"Wait, so you're a soldier?" I asked, shocked.

"Yes. I normally don't do these kinds of jobs, but I have a soft spot for orphans… You see, I was left at a shelter when I was ten. And I still, to this day, remember my parents telling me they would be back for me. They lied." He swallowed, and looked like he couldn't go on.

"I'm an orphan too. In a sense. But I was never alone as you are. I always had Wess, Nathaniel, Jacob, and Lyssy. I don't know how I would have bourn being without them." I said softly.

He smiled, but there was something that stopped the smile from reaching his eyes. "What's the matter?"

He stared thoughtfully off into space, "If I told you what's bothering me, then you could be unhappy, and you may feel obligated, or guilty. If I don't tell you then _I_ will most definitely be very miserable for the rest of my life, but you would be living in content ignorance."

I understood none of what he said, but I nodded my head anyway.

"I think I may need to sleep on it. It's never smart to ramble when you are drunk on sleep deprivation." Then he stood and began making his slow journey to the bedroom upstairs. But when he was walking past me, he suddenly stooped, and wrapped his arms around me. Then he whispered, "Thank-you, for helping us. You are a really wonderful woman. If I ever have a wife, I want her to be exactly like you."

Then he was gone, leaving poor little old me standing there, speechless.

In the minutes after he left, I came to one conclusion. Jeremy was suddenly a very possible choice. Meaning, Jeremy just got so much more attractive, it wasn't just because of his looks anymore. He had somehow changed the direction my heart was sprinting. Damian was still a big dream of mine, but I had suddenly saw that even if Damian didn't love me, I could still live happily. And If Jeremy left, I still had the possibility of Damian.

It all felt wrong. No one is allowed to fall in love with two people… are they? "I don't deserve even half the attention I would get from one of the two, let alone all that I'm getting now." I whispered into the flickering flames on the candlestick. "Love at first sight isn't supposed to happen twice to one person."

My mind slowly began taking me through all the moments I had spent in the presence of both men.

Prince Damian's eyes were the first thing that had attracted me. They were much like Jeremy's, but they were blacker, more… hypnotizing.

Jeremy's eyes looked like millions of shards of glass were pieced together, and the colors of the shards ranged from a brown so light that it looked orange, to a dark, dark brown.

When speaking to Damian, I always wanted to just curl up in his lap and listen to his warm voice. After we finish a conversation I can't remember what we had talked about, I just know that I enjoyed it.

When talking with Jeremy, I felt like I could laugh… Dance… Sing... I could let my crazy side out when around him, yet at the same time I could be serious.

When by myself I would giggle like a little girl about Jeremy, whereas I would sigh happily about Damian.

Jeremy was a whole different planet of mysteriousness, I knew nothing about him, and that may have attracted me more, made me more excited. Damian, on the other hand was safe, I knew exactly who he was, everyone in the kingdom had followed his every move since before he was born.

Ever since my father passed away I had promised myself that I would never fall in love with anyone. I had to many responsibilities for that. And yet I still fell into this scheme that cupid had thought would be cute.

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><p><em><strong>AN**_

_**Hey!**_

_**Okay, so the next chapter will be one of the two alternate endings. I'll try to upload both at the same time, so that there is less confusion. I think I'll upload Prince Damian's ending first, because I had the most votes for him. But I (****for one****) like Jeremy a lot. **_

_**Chapter 12 is Brietta and Damian. Chapter 13 is Jeremy and Brietta. Chapter 14 is a surprise.**_

_**That makes only three chapters left D: I'm so gonna miss all ya'll!**_

_**Please review, I'm having so much fun with these stories, but I would love some input. : )**_

_Pokemonche**n; I added Jeremy stuff! Do you like him? **_

_NewQueen2012**; Bramian will be together forever in chapter 12. I hope you like how it turns out! **_

_Booksnake**; How do you like the idea of alternate endings? So that every one ends up happy. I love your review, so much excitement! Lol. I hope you love the next few chapters. Particularly chapter 12.**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>:D ~Ilikemutemath<strong>_


	13. Brietta and Damian's Happy Ending

_**Brietta and Damian's happy ending...?**_

_**The changes in Point Of View (POV) should be clearly marked, I hope there's no confusion. :) **_

_**Warning... This chapter goes on forever... X**__**D**_

_**Chapter **_**13**

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><p>I was outside most of the next morning, scrubbing Drizzela's dresses.<p>

For the past several hours I had been wondering how so much change could have happened since Bertha first showed that invitation to me. That was the moment my life changed direction.

I had to think really hard to be able to remember how I had thought of Prince Damian then. I guess I had thought he was ignorant to all of us peasants, and disobedient to his parents. Now I would consider him to be one of my closest friends, strange how much your perspective on someone can change so easily, and in so little time.

"Brietta, Is that you? I'd given up hope on ever seeing that pretty smile 'round here again." I turned to find Mr. Sliven, the groundskeeper, limping towards me with a rake in his hand. Mr. Sliven was around the age of thirty, he was an Italian, and he spoke with a thick accent.

I gave him a hug, "Mr. Sliven! I missed you while I was gone. How have you been?" I asked him.

"Good enough." He said, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he smiled. "I've been hearing some rumors going around about you. Do you mind clearing up if they are true or not?" He asked, peering over his glasses at me.

I frowned, "No, I don't mind. What rumors?"

"Well… that Miss Drizzela, she was rambling on about how you picked up a man… Now, I do not usually believe everything I hear her say. But my sister and brother-in-law came for a stay. And my brother-in-law, he said he saw the young prince with a beautiful Eldemarian girl. And I say to myself, 'Fabian, I bet my life that your Brietta is that beautiful Eldemarian girl.' And then, you come to work this morning, and you look so happy! And I do not know if it is because of the Prince or not." He pursed his lips.

One thing that I loved about Mr. Sliven, he had a habit of rambling when he talked to people he cared about.

"The prince is my friend, so that rumor would be true. But he's not… We aren't together. It wouldn't work between us. He's the prince of Rhenia, I'm not even a full blooded Rhenian citizen…" I all but forgot that Mr. Sliven was there as I continued my never-ending argument with myself.

"Matters of the heart are never easy." Mr. Sliven said, patting my shoulder, "But I have found that by the time all of your thinking and pondering is over and done with, your love has drifted so far away that she does not even remember your name. And you have wasted any chance you ever had with her." I looked up into his sad eyes, he had lost someone before, that much was obvious. "Do not make the same mistake I did… Go speak to the Prince. If he does not love you, then you will go on living. But if he does love you, you will go on living… but with a new happiness in your life."

"Thank-you, next time I see him I'll speak to him about it. I just hope you are right about this." I said, already feeling the butterflies in my stomach.

**~*H*~**

_**Prince Damian's POV;**_

I woke the next morning with a peace that had eluded me for several weeks. Nothing was going to rid me of my happiness this day. Because that was the day I was going to tell my father and mother who my choice for marriage would be.

"Brietta Anderson." I loved knowing her name. I loved knowing who her family was. I loved the fact that I would be able to tell my parents everything about her. "Brietta Anderson, from the East district of Rhenia. She loves children, she works hard to make her brothers and sister happy. She cares deeply for those who are in need. She loves Jesus. She is half Rhenian, half Eldemarian. She is beautiful. She is perfect. I love her." I had been saying the same words over and over ever since I had left her house the night before. I couldn't believe that I had found her, but now that I had found her I wasn't letting go.

I began humming one of the songs I had heard pouring out of the doors when I had been hiding in the garden with Brietta. As I hummed the song I threw open my door and walked happily down the hall. I caught sight of Sarah and one of her ladies-in-waiting down one of the adjoining halls and I turned down it. "Madam, will you do me the honor of letting me have this dance?" I asked Sarah, bowing low.

She stared at me with bleary eyes, my little sister was not a morning person. "Maybe Tina will." She said, covering a yawn as she walked past me.

The maid squealed in surprise as I immediately stooped and scooped her into the dancing position, then began humming the same tune that I had earlier, just a little louder this time. I waltzed the girl back down the hall after Sarah. All the while she protested, I just replied with a chuckle.

"Damian, whatever are you doing to our poor Miss Tina?" My father said, coming from down the hall.

"We're dancing, father." I laughed, spinning down the corridor towards him.

"Your majesty! A little help!" The maid cried, trying to look dignified while holding onto me for her life.

"Don't listen to her, father. She actually enjoys this very much." I interrupted her.

Father laughed, "I'm sure she does." Then he walked on into the dining room, leaving me to dance the girl to death.

"Damian, let Tina be." My mother said from behind me.

I winced and gently lowered the maid the few inches to the ground. I flashed a bright smile before letting her go and turning to my mother and Sarah.

"Come to breakfast, dear." Mother said with a smile.

"Dami is better now, mama." Sarah whispered to our mother as I held the door for them.

"I believe you might be right about that. He seems quite healed doesn't he?" She asked, meeting my eyes as she walked past.

I sat at the dining table and tried my hardest not to be impatient... It wasn't my fault that my foot wouldn't stop tapping, I can't control these things.

There were some nobles that were joining us for breakfast, and I didn't particularly want other people knowing before Brietta herself knew, so I had to hold it off for a little while longer.

"Is there something you wanted to speak to us about, dear?" My mother asked, laying a hand on my knee to stop it from bouncing.

"Could I have an audience with you and Father after breakfast? I have something important to tell you both." I asked her in a whisper.

"Of course." She said with a smile.

"Thank you." I said with a relieved sigh, returning her smile.

Almost a whole hour later we sat in my father's study.

I took a deep breath, "Father, I agreed to attend my ball, and to at least mingle with some of the available women, I did not expect to find anyone that I thought I could spend my life with. But now I see that I was mistaken…" As I spoke I paced in front of the fireplace. I continued to pour out the speech that had been swimming around in my mind ever since I woke, then I finally just blurted out the words that wanted so bad to be free, "I have fallen in love with the most beautiful girl in the world. I would like you both to meet her, then possibly give us your blessing."

They were silent for a long while. Their silence made me more worried than anyone could possibly imagine. I began wondering if they had already made an agreement with the king of Eldemari that I would take his daughter's hand in marriage.

"Son… we would like nothing better." My father finally said with a smile.

With tears overflowing from her eyes, my mother said, "Your Brietta has quite a healthy reputation in Rhenia. Not one person that met her had anything bad to say about her."

My eyebrows rose, "You asked people about her?"

"No, not exactly. We sent scouts to meet her and her family members. Just a few people here and there, but they didn't invade her privacy in any way. Their report on her was amazing." Father explained.

I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes at them, "Would you care to meet her in person? Or should I just keep her to myself? Since you seem to already know so much about her…"

"Hmm, that seems fine with me. What do you think, Dear?" My mother asked father.

"Mother! You cannot be serious, I didn't go through all this trouble for you to dismiss her." I said, half-incredulous, half laughingly.

"We will meet her. And even if she is ugly and rude we will love her. Because you love her, and we love you." My father said before standing and opening his arms for me.

I accepted his hug, then turned to my mother for hers.

"I'll be back in a few hours." I said, hurrying out the door of the study.

"Be sure to bring the adorable children I keep hearing about, also!" My mother called after me. "They're just as welcome as she is."

I was hurrying towards my Brietta, and my future was slowly being lowered into place, I just prayed love didn't have any more obstacles for me.

_**~*H*~**_

_**Brietta's POV;**_

_Seriously, if I pass out again I am going to be so mad at myself. _I thought as I pulled a heavy pan out of the hot oven. I hummed a slow tune today, I didn't want to over-stress myself, a faster tune would have made me feel like I had to go faster than my legs could carry me.

Lady Berggren and Drizzela had planned a large brunch, and just about every noble's wife was sitting on the veranda, along with all of their older sons.

I figured what Lady Berggren was trying to do was about the same as the king and queen did for Damian. She was playing mass matchmaker for Drizzela and Bertha. I knew Bertha actually had a good chance, she was attractive with her dark hair and her big brown eyes. But Drizzela… I guess if the man was desperate enough he could look past her flaws.

I carried yet another tray of pastries out to the large round table at the end of the veranda. The women flocked to it, "Oohing" and "Ahhing" over every little dainty piece of my edible art.

"Oh maid, can you be a dear and bring out more of those delightful chocolate thingies? And could you tell the cook that those are simply scrumptious?" An elegant elder lady asked me.

I hesitated, those had taken the longest out of the entire dessert that I had made, "I- It may take a little while, if you do not mind waiting. But I'm afraid I cannot tell the cook that… because I am the cook." I said with a soft smile at her. She had one of those faces you expected a loving grandmother to have.

"Why… aren't you a dear little thing! You made all of those little beauties yourself?" She asked loudly. As she did that the other noble women came over, patted my head, and complimented my baking skills.

I never felt more condemned. Strange what a patting on the head does to your pride.

"Of course we'll wait, you take all the time you need. If you don't mind I'd like another batch to take home. I'll pay for it. And do you think you could send that recipe to my cook? Here is the address." She said handing me a card.

I just nodded, trying to remember all she had asked.

I finished that batch faster than the last time, and I set half of it in a covered dish, placed the recipe carefully on top, and took it to the lady as she left.

Later I went into the gardens to cut fresh flowers for Bertha's room, and I found that girl in the garden with a man. They walked down one of the paths, arm in arm.

"Brietta! Come meet my new dear friend." Bertha called as she spotted me.

I walked slowly forward, "And who might this be?" I asked with a mischievous smile at Bertha.

"This is Edward, we danced at the ball. I didn't recognize him this morning, but he recognized me. Then during the brunch he kept dropping subtle hints to me. Isn't it romantic?" She said, and for once, she didn't squeal. She was totally love-struck.

"It is nice to meet you Edward." I said after rolling my eyes at Bertha.

"Nice to meet you too Brietta. I do believe that you turned me down at the ball though." He said with an impish grin.

"I'm sorry. I turned everyone down that asked. I was wearing heels for the first time in my life, and I don't particularly like balls… Again, I'm so sorry, it was nothing personal." I said, feeling bad.

"No, it is quite all right, if you hadn't, I never would have found this beautiful woman to dance with." He said, lifting the back of Bertha's hand to his mouth for a kiss. She blushed.

"Wow, I can see you two are pretty far gone, so I will just be on my way…" I said. But I don't think they heard me.

I chuckled all the way back to the house. They were acting so… dazed. It was funny.

It made me happy seeing Bertha happy, nothing could top that moment.

Before I even reached the door I heard the violent ringing of the bell that led to the den. I hurried in, but before I could open the den door Lady Berggren rushed out, almost knocking me over. "Where have you been? I have been ringing that blasted bell for almost a minute!"

"I'm sorry, what was it you needed?" I asked, ignoring her question.

"Bring some china in the good tea! We have a visitor!" She said, accidentally mixing her words. She was really in a panic. She never got this worked up.

"Yes ma'am, right away." I said calmly. She seemed to gain composure as she watched me calmly hurry away to do her bidding, just as I knew she would. I may not like these people very well, but I knew them better than they knew themselves.

I prepared the tea carefully in the china pot, I hated using the china, it really was beautiful, and I always worried that I would break it.

I mentally prepared myself before opening the door to the den; Someone of real importance was in there, and some of the snobby nobles that sometimes visited had sharp tongues, they liked lashing them at the help. Which was me in this case.

I turned the knob and entered, closing the door behind me before turning around.

I set the tray on the table by the mirror, and glanced over my shoulder to see how many cups I would need. I dropped the spoon I was holding, it landed in the pot with a loud clunk. Prince Damian was sitting across from Lady Berggren, his dark eyes were following my every movement.

I had to remind myself that it wasn't my business why he was there. I turned back around and finished pouring up the two cups. Then, taking a deep breath and composing my face, I took the cups over to the coffee table in between them. Then I went back and got the sugar bowl and set it also on the table.

"Will that be all, Lady Berggren?" I asked carefully. I hated that Damian was seeing me this way, it was a large blow to my pride.

I winced when I saw her expression, she was about to show off, and this was definitely not going to end well.

"Brietta, this is _Prince _Damian… You know, he has servants that are much, much faster than you are. And yet, he waits patiently for his tea, while you dilly dally around. Now, I'm sure you have something to say to him. Then after you make your apologies, I want you to rewash all of Drizzela's clothes, she says that they all smell like Bertha's detergent, and she absolutely abhors that smell." On the inside I was strangling the woman. My face was impassive on the outside, though my shoulders were very tense. Bertha's detergent was the same thing I had been using for Drizzela's for all the years I had worked there.

I slowly turned to Damian, not meeting his eyes, "I'm truly sorry, your highness. I hope that my actions will not affect Lady Berggren's appearance in your eyes."

"Brietta!" Lady Berggren said sharply, "You're in the presence of royalty… Bow!"

Still avoiding his eyes, I curtsied low. As I came back up I met his eyes, but I had to look away again. They were filled with utter sadness.

I spun and left the room swiftly, but once I shut the door, I broke into a full run. Tears fell in a steady stream down my face, if ever there was a chance for Damian and I to be together it had just been crushed severely. The sadness in his eyes spoke volumes, he was finally seeing that our statuses were infinitely different. I would probably never see him again after this. And that one glance, that last look into his eyes would be how I always remembered him.

_**~*H*~**_

_**Prince Damian's POV;**_

I watched angrily as Brietta exited the room. My eyes slowly trailed back to Berggren, my glare heating as I looked at her.

"Y- Your highness, I will make sure that- Ah, this never happens again. She will be punished, I assure you." She had taken my anger the wrong way, and her words only added to the flame. She had just _thrown_ herself out of the frying pan and into the fire, which was quickly turning into lava.

I was actually seeing red, and trust me, that was not a good sign. I never lost my temper… ever. But when it came to Brietta, there was a switch that flipped inside of me, a protective switch. And I didn't know how to turn it off. One side of me was afraid for Berggren. And yet the other side wanted to crush her in every way possible.

"Brietta is resigning from her position in your staff. I would like you to pay her what you owe for this month and let her go. If you or your daughters so much as raise a finger towards her, you will find that your life and everyone you care abouts' life will be turned into a living hell. And believe me, I have the power to make you suffer much worse than what should be humanly possible." My jaw was clamped as I spoke, making every word a growl. And my fists were clenched tightly by my sides, I had to concentrate hard on not using them.

Berggren's face paled at every word, and by the end she was nodding in complete agreement, but she had collapsed into a chair. I guess I was pretty convincing.

I began walking towards the door, but was stopped by a weak voice coming from Berggren. "What will I do for meals and cleaning?" She asked, looking at me for answers.

I frowned, "What about your other workers?"

"I don't have any, Brietta has been my only staff for years."

"She cleaned this whole house and cooked all your meals by herself?" I asked. I was something completely past furious, nothing could make me more angry than I was right then, I had reached full capacity. Brietta had not only worked here in this hellhole by herself, but then at the end of the day she went home to her family and cared for them. She never ceased to amaze me.

I left the room, taking big strides as I went in search of Brietta. I didn't find her, but I did run into a couple that was entering through the back doors of the house.

"Hello, can I help you?" The girl asked me.

"No." I said curtly, "Wait, yes. Do you know where Brietta is?" Some of my anger was still boiling, and I said it a bit harsher than I meant to.

Her face went blank as I asked that, "No, I haven't seen her in a while. What do you need her for?" Her voice was almost a monotone.

I sighed and ran an agitated hand through my hair, "I think your _mother_ may have upset her. And… I need to tell her something." I could feel my face heating with embarrassment at the last sentence.

The girl just crossed her arms across her chest and frowned at me.

Then the man beside her spoke up, "Bertha, this is Prince Damian, he's okay, he won't hurt her." I looked up to find one of the noble's sons who I had spent some time with a while back. I felt embarrassed that I didn't remember his name.

The girl looked doubtful. But with an encouraging look from the man, Bertha sighed and gave in, "She ran past us a few minutes ago… She's in the garden." She still looked doubtful, but she had moved out of the doorway so I could pass.

"Thank you. I'm glad there's someone that is protective of her." I said, shaking the man's hand and smiling at the girl before running out the door.

The gardens were very large, and it took me a while to find her.

She was sitting on the ground by a small fountain. Her golden curls were covering her face and her hands were wrapped around herself. Her whole body was shaking with sobs. It was the most miserable sight I had ever seen.

"Brietta?" I asked carefully.

She leaned forward more and buried her face in her skirts.

I moved to her side and sat down. I watched her for a moment, my heart breaking for her. I laid a gentle hand on her hair. Then as if they had their own will, my fingers started running through her curls. It felt just as soft as it looked. I suddenly noticed that her crying had stopped. Apparently my effort at comforting was not going unnoticed.

"I'm sorry for all that she said. I haven't met someone so vile in a long time." I said.

She looked up at me through her hair, "It wasn't her words that hurt me. My heart was hardened a long time ago to her anger." She said, her voice thick.

"What's the matter then?" I asked.

Her lip shuddered, "I have to tell you something." She said, flipping her hair away from her face and sitting up.

I nodded.

She took a deep breath, "I love you. I think I have since the night of the ball." I began to reply to her words, but she quickly interrupted me, " Let me finish. Please… I have come to see that no matter how I feel… it wouldn't ever work for us. Your place in life is so different from mine. Also, there is the issue of my brothers and sisters. I would never leave them, and I would never ask you to take on a whole family like this." She frowned and looked away, "I think it would be best if we aren't even friends. It's obvious that I'm attracted to you, and I wouldn't want your reputation as prince ruined."

I studied her, "Is this what you want?" As I asked this It felt as if _I_ was ripping my heart in two. It was me this time, I was doing it. Not love, not Brietta. It was all me.

"I think it would be best." She repeated, not meeting my eyes.

I took her shoulders in my hands, I could feel tears behind my eyes, "Look at me. I want to know if it is what you want. Not what is best."

When she met my eyes she crumpled a little bit, then in a whisper she spoke, "What I want doesn't matter. It never has. I have to take care of my family, and this is the best… for them."

My chest tightened violently, I could feel her slipping away, "Please. Brietta, I love you. I want to be the one that cares for you. I want to care for your brothers and sisters. I want this responsibility. I have never wanted anything more than I want you. Please, I can't live without you. I want you to be with me for the rest of my life… I'm asking you to be my wife, Brietta." I ignored the tears that slipped past my guard. "Please. I'm begging you."

She took a shuddering breath, "You love me." She closed her eyes and smiled, "You love me."

"Yes!" I said, grabbing her hands and bringing them both to my lips, "Yes. I love you… so much." My voice cracked as I spoke.

"Damian." She whispered, "I love you too."

Relief washed over me, "You know… Since we both love each other…" I rubbed a finger across her jaw line, "Maybe we should get married." I said, "Just a suggestion…" I gave her a smile.

"Hmm…" She just frowned, pondering.

"Brietta, answer me." I said. I knew what her answer would be. It was the first time that I was sure of anything. But I was having fun with her right then. She was happy, and that made me feel lighter than air.

"You didn't ask a question." She said, her eyes wide with false innocence. "You suggested something in a _sentence_."

I growled, and tackled her, pinning her hands down with my right hand and tickling with my left. She squealed. "OK! Okay, I'll answer your sentence! It wasn't a question! Just stop! Stop tickling!" She said between peals of laughter.

I didn't let her go, I just sat on top of her, waiting for her answer.

Her face turned serious, and she met my eyes. I let go of her hands and rolled off, pulling her up to face me.

"Fine…" I said, "Brietta Anderson…" I studied her beautiful eyes for a moment before asking, "will you marry me?"

"Damian, I would love to." The way she said my name made my heart happily gallop off.

"That settles it then." I said, hooking a finger under her chin to pull her closer.

_**~*H*~**_

_**Brietta's POV;**_

We walked down the road, heading for my house. We spoke of how Damian had gone to Wesley before he came to me. Wess had given him his blessing, and told him where to find me. It was no little detail to me that Damian had asked permission for my hand.

When I was little, I had always dreamed of my future husband going to my father, but since he was not there, Wess was the next closest person that I would have wanted. His approval was important to me.

By the time we reached the house, the kids were already out of school for the day. I went ahead and announced it to them, knowing that Wess had known beforehand, and he wouldn't mind.

Damian got a hug from every one of my siblings, even the adopted ones.

Andrew, Stephen, Jesse, and Sarah were even excited for me. However, looking at those four reminded me that just a few hours ago I had been in love with more than one person. And the other person would be leaving soon, especially since I was not going to stop him.

I felt bad about choosing between the two. And in the end, I did choose the one that most girls would have chosen; which was the prince. I was confident that Jeremy would find the one God intended for him, it was close to impossible that there wouldn't be anyone later on than me that doesn't catch his eye. And he would most definitely be catching many a girl's eye with his charm and good looks.

Wesley came home not long after we got there and Jeremy walked in the door after him. Jeremy took one look at my hand, that was interlaced with Damian's, and he seemed to sigh in defeat. Although, seconds after he saw us, he was congratulating Damian and I on our engagement.

Later I went upstairs to find him gathering the children's things. I ended up shutting myself in my room while I gained control of my emotions. I sat with my back against the door, my hand covering my nose and mouth so no sobs would escape. It hurt to see him in such a hurry to get away… all because of me.

The doctor had come that morning and said that everyone that was injured was going to heal quickly. So that meant they were free to leave even before now, but I think Jeremy might have been staying longer for an alternate purpose other than getting some extra cash for their trip. But I had ruined that. And I truly did feel bad about that.

By the time I had controlled myself and cleaned my face, they were packed up and waiting by the door. Apparently the kids had insisted on saying goodbye to me. It was probably the easiest goodbye for me, I knew where they were going, and they knew I was definitely going to come visit them often.

It was almost a relief to see them walk down the road. My feelings weren't so confused when there was some distance between me and Jeremy.

I turned to Damian, he smiled broadly, "You ready to meet my parents?" He asked.

"No." I said, nervous.

"Okay… lets go." He said, taking my hand. Just that action was enough to make my heart go into rapid spasms.

_**~*H*~**_

_**Damian's Mother, **_

_**Queen Quymby Marissa's POV;**_

I had never seen Damian look so was radiant. He seemed far more grown up than ever before as he walked into the room. It was as if he found a piece of himself that was missing. The piece he had searched for in hunting, reading, adventuring, and also a little rebelling. None of that had satisfied the search.

The girl that held onto his hand was beautiful. The moment they walked through the door I could see why Damian had been attracted to her. She truly was perfect.

She had grace that could be mistaken for trained royalty. When she curtsied, it was like a delicate flower bowing in the wind. It was a marvel just to watch her, and I am sure, I did plenty of watching.

_**~*H*~**_

_**Brietta's POV;**_

"Hello, it's an honor to meet you both." I said softly, looking up at the King and Queen of Rhenia through shy eyelashes.

Damian's hand tightened around mine, and I relaxed some. He had been nervous when we announced to my younger siblings that we were engaged, he didn't know how they would react. But now it was my turn. And his family just so happened to be royalty.

The Queen breathed a sigh of relief, before stepping forwards and wrapping both arms around me. I laughed and hugged her back. She pulled away, holding me at arms length, "I have waited all of Damian's life to meet you. And as impossible as it seems, you are far better than I could have dreamed of."

I blushed under her soft words, "Thank-you, your highness. That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." I said, leaning forward and hugging her again, her hugs felt right. It was like I had a mother again, she was perfect.

The King stood and watched me for a minute, and then he suddenly swooped and pulled me up into a hug. "I have been praying so hard that my son would pick the right wife. You, Brietta, are an answer to both his mother's and my prayers." He whispered in my ear.

When he set me down there were tears in my eyes, "I'm sorry," I said, wiping at my eyes, "I've cried more in one day than I have in a very long time." When I said this Damian slipped an arm around my waist and gently kissed my temple. I smiled at how sweet the feeling was.

"This is good…" The King said in a thinking tone. "You are half Eldemarian, half Rhenian, correct?"

"Yes, your highness." I said.

"Oh, dear you can call me anything you would like, but would you mind not calling me your highness? It is a title that I only tolerate in the court when it's someone close to me." He said gently.

I nodded with an understanding smile.

"Yes, well. As I was saying before, this is good. You will solve most of our problems just by marrying Damian." He said. "The King of Eldemari will realize that our two kingdoms have coexisted peacefully right under our noses. You are proof of your parents' love. Your eyes are brown, and your hair is blond. I have not seen anyone like you in a very, very long time."

"The wars will stop?" Damian asked with an absent look.

"Yes. And there is a great possibility that she will also prevent future wars." The king said, a smile adorning his face.

Damian looked down at me, but spoke to his father, "I guess the Eldemarians are coming to our wedding then?" The way he said 'our wedding' made my pulse quicken, and I leaned into him.

He smiled at me; I could tell he liked the way it sounded also.

"Yes, it appears that way." The king said.

The Queen seemed to remember something suddenly, "Damian Alexander Lexington! You disobeyed me! I said for you to bring Brietta's siblings with you!" She exclaimed.

"Mother…" He smiled, "I did. They are in the blue room. I wanted you to meet Brietta first." He said, looking at her like it should have been obvious.

She gave him a look, "I absolutely must get my hands on them." She said, and I could see the excitement shine through her usual façade. "Jane," She said to one of the maids, "Could you send in the children from the blue room?"

"Yes madam, they are already on their way." She curtsied, stepping back into the shadows. I frowned, Damian really did have maids that were much faster than I was, and she was also prettier. I could not stop looking in the direction the maid was. Damian noticed this and his arm tightened around my waist.

The Queen and King walked across the room and sat on the seats by the fireplace. Damian and I followed, but as we walked, Damian leaned down to my ear and whispered, "I love you." All my worries and nervousness fell away at those three words.

The door opened and my family walked in, I felt pride swelling in my chest at the sight of them. They all walked with a powerful dignity that was even more distracting than their attractive faces. But also I suddenly realized how young Wess actually was. For the past few years I had only seen him as the man of the house, our support. But he was really only a kid still, not even out of his teens yet.

We spent a whole hour getting to know each other. My brothers and sisters fell in love with the king and queen, and vise verses. Anna and Edmund fit right in with the rest of us, just like it should have been.

I sighed happily and leaned my head onto Damian's shoulder. I had found true love. And I wasn't letting go.

_**~*H*~**_

It was the morning of the wedding, and everything was moving smoothly.

Everywhere you looked there were roses. I was already squeezed into my beautiful designer dress. The whole palace was decorated. And the wedding service was planned to perfection. I just had to convince myself that nothing would go wrong.

I was having a mini panic attack for the fourth time that morning. The _whole _kingdom would be watching me, not to mention both the Rhenian _and_ Eldemarian royal families. I was a very flawed human being, and they were sure to find something wrong with me.

With shaking hands I picked up my bouquet. It was made of a dozen roses, but it had tiny little stems coming from it that had little harebell flowers hanging off. Harebell is the flower of Eldemari. It was my idea to include it in the bouquet. The Queen had been pleasantly surprised at my request, and she had agreed that it would be a wonderful idea.

I stepped towards the door where the maid was motioning me through, "We're taking you to the hair stylists now, miss." The maid said, walking me down the hall to a different room.

That is what I did the rest of the morning, I was ushered to different rooms, pampered and primped. Until finally, I stood outside of the closed chapel doors, the huge organ inside belting out beautiful music.

Wess suddenly appeared beside me, he was a breath of fresh air; I hadn't seen anyone I knew all morning. He was going to walk me down the isle.

He beamed proudly down at me, "You look amazing, Brietta." He said, not using my nickname.

"Thank you." I said, blinking back tears. "I love you, Wess." I said, feeling the need to assure him of that.

"Don't you dare make me cry." He said playfully, but I saw a suspicious moisture in the corner of his eye, "I love you too." He whispered.

The organ suddenly blared a new note, and the huge brown doors swung open. My eyes widened as everyone in the chapel stood simultaneously, making a rumbling noise. Their curious eyes turned to face the door… To face me.

I hooked my hand through Wess' arm. And we began our slow trek down the isle.

At first my eyes nervously skittered around the magnificent room, catching on peoples faces. But then I glanced to the alter, a smile slowly drifted onto my face at the welcome sight of Damian.

He looked stunning. His black suit making his hair and eyes look even darker than normal. His white teeth, revealed by an adoring smile, were a sharp contrast to his lightly tanned face. His eyebrows were raised slightly. And his eyes took in every inch of me. I wanted to quicken my pace, but I knew I shouldn't. We had practiced this three times, and I knew the wedding planner would have my head if I walked any faster than I was right then.

When I finally did reach him, I wanted to reach out immediately, but again, I knew I couldn't.

I endured the first half of the ceremony without touching him, as I so longed to do. Then the man beside us said the words that offered me freedom, "Please take hands."

As soon as he had scooped my hands into his, I was lost to the world. I didn't hear any more of what the man of the cloth said. Believe me, I tried to listen, but it was impossible. Once I realized that, I let myself study Damian's eyes. His beautiful dark eyes.

I somehow managed to say what I needed to say in all the right places, then I suddenly heard, "You may kiss the bride." The thrill that I got from those words was unexplainable.

Damian flashed a crooked smile, and began ever so slowly leaning down to my lips.

I impatiently grabbed his face between my palms, bringing his lips down to mine in a much quicker fashion. A rumble of laughter spilled from the crowd and filled the church, then applause. It was all a distant world to me as Damian pulled me closer. Lifting me up off the ground by my waist so he didn't have to lean down so far.

We pulled apart, both smiling hugely. Then the man that had made me happy several times that morning spoke again, "Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Damian Alexander Lexington the first." Roaring applause erupted even before he finished speaking, people stood and watched us exit the chapel, hand in hand.

_**~*H*~**_

_**Prince Damian's POV;**_

As soon as the doors opened she took my breath away.

Her white dress made her skin look creamier. Her hair was lovely in the off the neck style, ringlets dancing gently about her face. The way the ringlets were positioned somehow brought extreme attention to her dark eyes; no doubt the stylists had planned that. They wanted the kingdom to see that she was one of us.

Her eyes caught on mine, and a slow smile appeared on her face. My heart leapt at that smile, it was meant for me, and me alone.

Brietta looked like she was out of it the whole ceremony. She was probably worrying too much what the crowd thought about what she did and didn't do. I was lucky, I had been in front of the whole kingdom more times that I could count, so I was used to it, and slightly comfortable.

The ceremony passed easily, and we were soon out of the room and walking towards the gardens. The guest's were already ahead of us, we had taken a alternate route, we were supposed to arrive after them to make an entrance together.

I glanced down at my new wife, she seemed a little pale, but I had to take into consideration that she had just been thrust into the world of a royal. Still, I couldn't help but ask, "What are you thinking?"

She smiled shyly up at me, "Just that I love you." She whispered.

I swooped and pulled Brietta into a hug, not being able to hold her close enough. "I love you too." I laughed, "Although, those words seem inadequate to what I'm feeling right now."

"I agree. But that's how God meant it to be. Love is more than just a feeling." She said, smiling.

My eyes warmed towards her, "I think I'm going to thoroughly enjoy being your husband."

A mischief suddenly lit in her eyes, "That sounds rather fun to me, also." She stood on her tiptoes, to where her face was right in front of mine. I could feel her breath on my chin. I began to wrap my arms around her waist, but she was suddenly gone. I narrowed my eyes at her as she gracefully ran towards the garden we were having the reception in.

I glanced back to make sure there wasn't anyone who would criticize me for running. Then I took off after her. I caught up to her easily, and scooped her up by the waist. "And where do you think you're going, Mrs. Lexington?" I whispered warmly, barely able to keep my lips from seeking hers.

She hid a smile, "I believe there's a celebration in our honor just ahead… You wouldn't keep your guests waiting, would you?"

In answer I gently tilted her chin with a finger, bringing her lips back to mine. Then I whispered against her lips, "You have no idea how happy I am to have you as my wife."

She smiled, her eyes sparkling, and took my hand, motioning for me to lead her through the garden. I obliged, and when we finally rounded the corner of the festivities, we were greeted with more than ten thousand people, they all turned towards us with large smiles on their faces.

I tightened my hold on Brietta's hand, I knew she would be fine, but I needed to know she supported me. I may have been comfortable in front of everyone, but that didn't change the fact that most of the royals and nobles that were there were going to criticize me or even Brietta.

I knew we could handle it though. As long as we remembered that God had a hand in bringing us together, and God would have a hand in keeping us together. Forever.

_**Princess Brietta's POV;**_

_**One year later…**_

Since the day I was married, I had thoroughly learned everything there was to being a ruler.

Four weeks ago I had finished my training, and had been called into the meeting room by the king. Damian was already there.

The king informed me that he was handing the throne over to Damian, and that if I chose, I could either stay in the status I already had, no pressure would be added if I did. Or I could move on with Damian and become queen.

When I looked at Damian, his eyes told me it was completely my choice. But I knew what he wanted. And I knew that I was capable of helping Damian rule. So I chose the harder path, and decided to be crowned Queen of Rhenia.

Now, I stood with Damian in front of all Rhenia again. I wasn't nervous this time. These were my people now.

Everyone that had spoken to me about the crowning ceremony had told me to prepare for a long boring ritual. And that the only exciting part was the second I felt the weight of the crown resting on my head.

It had been nearly an hour since the ceremony had started. I smiled at the King of Eldemari, who was sitting in the front row beside Nathaniel, Jacob, and Lyssy. The two kingdoms had become close allies in the past year, and Damian and I had become friends with all the Eldemarian royal family. It felt amazing to know they approved of me and of my future role in the kingdom.

I glanced in Wess' direction, he was standing in the line of soldiers at the edge of the chapel. He had gotten his wish of being a member of the guard. And he was currently courting my best friend, Isabella.

After the reading of the Rhenian law, Damian would be crowned. Then he would put my crown on my head, and proclaim me queen. That was my favorite part, that Damian got to crown me. It made me feel like he was officially saying, this is my wife, I believe with all my heart that she is the perfect choice to rule beside me.

The king said something, bringing me back to the present. Everyone stood while the law of Rhenia was read. I smiled, I knew every single word by heart now. I had heard it so many times during my training that it was permanently etched into my memory.

Then a boy came slowly up the isle, carrying a beautiful golden crown on a purple pillow. It was Damian's. A girl followed him, carrying a smaller one, studded with a few tiny sparkling rubies. This one was mine.

Damian's father told him to kneel, then he said a few words, and slowly lifted the crown from it's position on the pillow.

"Repeat after me…" The king said, "I, Prince Damian Alexander Lexington the first, do hereby pledge,"

Damian and I had written our own pledges, and they had been perfected by the Queen and King.

Damian repeated it.

"…To keep the law of Rhenia. To enforce punishment on the ones who break it, and reward the ones who honor it…"

It was quite a long oath, and I felt the weight of it on Damian's shoulders even from where I was standing. But Damian never showed any hesitation, and as he spoke his voice was strong and clear. The whole kingdom could see that he meant every single word he spoke.

When my turn came, my pledge wasn't to the country, but to Damian. I smiled as the former king read the words off the paper for me to repeat. I did have to promise not to betray the kingdom and all that good stuff, but the rest was me promising to support Damian in everything he did and to honor and love him. I would have done all of that anyway, but It felt right to be saying the words for all the kingdom to hear. Queen Marissa thought it a good idea when I had presented it to her, and she had added her own little touches here and there.

Damian came forward with my crown, when I met his eyes, it seemed he had been holding back tears. He smiled lovingly at me, and placed the crown gently in place. It was designed for my head, so it was a perfect fit. I beamed at the audience. They all had smiles on their faces, and some were even crying.

When Damian pulled me up from my knees, he placed a light kiss on my hair and whispered, "Thank you."

I nodded, knowing he had been touched by my choice of commitment.

Everyone in the audience suddenly stood. Then they all slowly sank to their knees and bowed to both me and Damian. My eyes went to the Eldemarian royal family, even they were on their knees. It was a symbol of their allegiance to us, and I knew how much it meant for them to humble themselves in this way.

Tears sprang to my eyes, I suddenly felt a warmth towards all these people. I felt like they were my children, though most of them were much older than me, and much more wise. I hid my face in Damian's shirt, gathering myself before smiling up at him in pure joy.

After the ceremony, we were mingling in the chapel. Hesitant to leave the happy occasion. I caught sight of familiar eyes watching me, nothing could have hid the surprise that crossed my face.

I weaved through the people that separated us, and when I finally reached him, I couldn't find my voice to speak.

"Hello, Brie." He smiled.

"Jeremy… how are you?" I asked hesitantly.

"I'm fine. And I can see how you're doing, so there's no need to ask about that." He grinned.

Maybe I had just imagined that he had also been in love with me a year ago. He seemed to have forgotten anything that had been romantic between us.

"I…" I wasn't sure what else to say.

Understanding passed across his face, "I'd like you to meet someone." He said, motioning to a woman around my age. "This is Miranda, my fiancé." He said with a happy smile.

"Hello. It's an honor to meet you, your highness." She curtsied.

As we talked for a bit I realized that she was very sweet, pretty, and polite… She was perfect for Jeremy. I couldn't help but be happy for them both.

_**~*H*~ **_

"Mrs. Larson… I would _really_ love to help you, but in this case what you're asking for isn't legal by any standards." Damian was dealing with a couple of women who often came to the castle with a complaint about the other.

"But all I'm asking is for you to-" The woman began.

"Mrs. Larson!" Damian didn't yell, but his voice could be heard clearly and with a startling authority. "I can't force Miss Potter to hand over her milk cow to you just because you two argue once in a while. You need to understand that I won't put up with this squabbling. If you really dislike her so much, you may move away from her, but other than that I do not have a solution for you. I would rather you didn't bring matters of this sort to me anymore, I don't have the time nor the patience to deal with it. You are dismissed."

Watching Damian get so stressed out made me hesitant to share my news with him. I didn't want to add worry for me onto his already packed schedule.

Damian came towards me, "They get worse every time they come." He said with a chuckle, leaning down to kiss me.

I smiled, maybe I should do it now. "I have something to tell you."

"Yes?" He asked, an eyebrow raising in curiosity.

"I-"

I was cut off by Damian's coordinator. "Your highness, I'm sorry to interrupt, but you haven't signed the decree I put on your desk. Noble Evanson needs you in the study for his association duties. Lord Knoland has an issue in his district that needs your attention as soon as possible-" He suddenly stopped speaking. I looked to Damian to find his hand held up, silencing the man.

"I will attend to those duties as soon as I find the time. Have Evanson look up that book I told him about, he'll know what to do from there. I need to speak with my wife…" He looked to me, then asked, "In private?"

I shook my head 'no' "Go ahead. It can wait until later to be said."

He frowned, "I can spare a minute or two, if you want to talk now."

I smiled, "I'm fine. I'm going to go have lunch with your mother. What I need to tell you will wait."

"If you're sure…" He said, I could tell his mind was already on the business he needed to take cafe of, but he didn't leave me until he was sure I was okay with it.

The lunch meeting was fun, I loved being with my mother-in-law. She always had wise words for me, and could see through my outer appearance to my feelings.

"Do you mind if I ask a rather personal question?" She asked, after a small bout of silence.

"Not at all." I replied.

She smiled at me, "Have you…" She paused and thought about something, "Are you with child, dear?"

My eyes widened and my hand went to my belly, "How did you know?"

"I'm so happy for you. I wasn't sure if my guess was right or not, but I just had to ask." She said, throwing her arms around me in a hug. "How did Damian take it when you told him?" She asked.

My shoulders slumped in exhaustion, "I haven't told him yet. I only found out this morning." I didn't meet her eyes when she let out a gasp.

"Oh sweetheart… He's been too busy, hasn't he?" She asked, rubbing her thumb over my cheek comfortingly.

I nodded, tears pricking my eyes, "He's been so stressed lately, I wasn't sure I _should_ tell him yet." I closed my eyes, but it was too late, the tears squeezed out from under my eyelids and slipped down my cheeks.

"You dear thing. Damian won't be anymore stressed knowing that he's going to be a father. If anything it will help him. Right now he's just trying to take in the fact that he's taken over his father's job. As soon as you tell him this he'll have something to get _excited_ about."

"Are you sure?" I asked, wiping away the tears.

"Tell him." She whispered.

I nodded.

_**~*H*~**_

Later that night Damian was dressing for bed, and I was trying to figure out how I should tell him, when he gave me the answer.

"What was it you were wanting to tell me earlier? I'm sorry for running off on you like that by the way." He said, his jaw widening in a yawn.

"Why don't you sit?" I said slowly. When we were both comfortable on the bed, my head leaning back against his chest, I began. "You know how I've been getting sick a lot lately? Well, I had a visit with the physician this morning like you suggested…"

He twisted around so he could see my face, worry clouding his eyes. "What is it?" He asked.

I cupped his face in my hand and used my thumb to smooth out the worried frown on his forehead, then I smiled at him, "He gave me some exciting news."

Confusion passed over his face.

I took his hand, "He told me that I'm about six weeks pregnant." I laid the hand on my stomach and covered it with my hand.

His eyes grew to the size of saucers, "Is he sure?"

"No doubt in his mind."

"I'm gonna be a father?" He whispered, and I could see excitement growing in his eyes.

I nodded.

"I'm gonna be a father!" He said again, but louder this time.

I laughed, overjoyed by his reaction.

"Can we tell people? I mean is it a secret?" He asked.

"I don't see any reason to keep it a secret… but just so you know, your mother already guessed." I admitted.

"That's great!" He said loudly. "She's always wanted grandkids."

He suddenly jumped up off the bed and threw open the door to our bedroom. He paused in the doorway and came back to me, giving me a long kiss before pulling me up with him and walking to the door.

We stood on the thresh hold for a second, before he suddenly yelled, "I'm gonna be a father!" It echoed down the halls.

I laughed "And I'm gonna be a mother!" I yelled also, laughing at our ridiculousness the whole time.

From somewhere down the hall came a laugh, then a voice that matched the laugh, "I'm going to be a grandmother!"

There was a silence, then Damian's father came around the corner at a swift pace, followed closely by my siblings. All their eyes were burning with questions. And all me and Damian had to do was nod once, before they were all jumping up and down and shouting things about uncles and grandparents.

It was the best moment I have ever experienced so far, and I got to share it with everyone I loved.

* * *

><p><em><strong>(AN) **_

_**I'm sorry it took so long to update, but as you can see this was the longest chapter ever...**_

_**I honestly don't know how I'm going to top this... just so you know it might be forever until I update Jeremy's chapter.**_

_**This chap is over 10,000 words... I hope you like it. I put a load of work into this, It's gone way past just a hobby. ;)**_

_**turns out I lied in the last author's note, I said I'd post both chapters together, **_

_**but I just didn't have time to finish the 14th chapter in time to post it today along with this one. **_

_**I actually think I'm gonna trash what little I **__**already have for it and start over... Suggestions for Jeremy's chapter, please? :)**_

_**Pokemonchen; Thanks... completely flew over my head. I'm not excited about finishing the next chap... I'm glad I have you though. :) I would leave you a longer note, but I know I'll just end up PMing you sometime soon, and I'll say the stuff then. :)  
><strong>_

_**Keelykelly; She's gonna marry both ;) I'm really, really glad you like Damian. I wish I had a Damian... I like your profile pic, btw.**_

_**Booksnake; Thank-you for reviewing, and such a long sweet review it was :) I know, but I'm kinda relieved to have one less thing to stress about. I'm glad you like them both. You have no Idea how sad it is for me to have to say goodbye to Damian. He's my dream guy. I love writing about Brietta's life, it's a part of me now. I'm not sure what I'll do when I finish all my stories. Oh, and please PM me, I know I'll forget to once I have internet.**_

_**popalot; Thank-you, I'm sorry for the wait! I feel bad about how long passed between updates. Almost three months I think... And it has been even longer since I updated my other story... :O**_

_**Tori Faye; I'm sorry! D': I'm just a terrible person. I didn't mean to keep you in suspense for so long. I wanna say thanks to you, your reviews have made me happy every single time I get one from you.**_

_**If the wait gets a too long send me ideas or just and encouraging message... pretty much to let me know you're getting impatient. **_

_**I need **__**discipline, so please get impatient.**_

_**Thanks to everyone who Followed, Favorited and Reviewed. YOU PEOPLE ARE SO AMAZING! **__**  
><strong>_

_**Please review, and don't hesitate even if this story is long finished, **_

_**I'm sure it will be nice to see that my story's still liked a long time from now.**_

_**I love every single one of you! Even the invisible ones. (Ones who don't review)**_

_**Anyway, everyone have a blessed day/week/month/year/life.**_

_**-Ilikemutemath,**_

_**A Classic Criminal.**_


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